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WINCHESTER HALL 



SELF-DEVELOPMENT 

OR THE 

UNFOLDING OF THE FACULTIES 
UNDER SELF-CULTURE. 

A SERIES OF ESSAYS, 

ADDRESSED TO YOUTHS 
IN COLLEGE, AND AT HOME. 

By 

WINCHESTER HALL. 

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WINCHESTER HALL. 



All Rights Reserved. 



To THE Youths of our 

Free and United States^ 

Who are Eager to move Upward, 

AS They move Onward: 

I Dedicate these Essays. 

WINCHESTER HALL. 

PocoMOKE City, Md. 
May, 1904. 




PREFACE. 

There is to me no more interesting spectacle, 
than a youth on the threshold of a career — the 
future hopeful ; with an unconscious yearning in 
his heart to have the world better for his living. 
He carefully overlooks that career, and feels that 
he must pursue it, so as to win the approval of 
good men, and the approbation of his conscience. 
Perhaps he stands alone, amid unfriendly sur- 
roundings, without material aid ; without an eye 
to mark him, or a voice to whisper, "God speed 
thee!" Perhaps his genial and attractive man- 
ners have already surrounded him with friends, 
solicitous for his welfare ; or perhaps, he may 
have ample material aid; and kin, very dear, 
who expect him to keep lustrous a family name. 
In one case or the other, natural parts so far 
transcend all environment as to differ only in 
individuality. 

In that career the battle of life is to be 
fought ; he wishes to be in the thickest of the fray, 
and knows he must equip himself for the combat, 
with a completeness that will bear down all op- 
position ; and force the struggle to end in victory. 
I tender to him aid and sympathy. Over four 



vl Preface. 

score years have I walked the earth, and the scars 
of battle are mute reminders of a record. 

Youth has all the requirements which ensure 
success, commensurate with ability, save the ex- 
perience which in the nature of things he cannot 
have. I purpose to give it to him as I have re- 
ceived it from others; and in a lesser measure 
from my own. Armed as he may be, still he 
may often be defeated ; let him never be disheart- 
ened. A triumphant end will crown an indom- 
itable will; and the full-rounded and elevated 
character, which are the fruits of victory, will be 
full indemnity for the self-denial he has prac- 
tised, and the toil he has undergone. 



CONTENTS. 

PAOB 

Introductory ' 

ESSAY II. 
Object of Life 7 

ESSAY III. 
The Subject of Self-Development 12 

ESSAY IV. 
Self-IQiowledge ^5 

ESSAY V. 
On Self-Reliance 20 

ESSAY VI. 
On Self-Denial 23 

ESSAY VII. 
Individuality 25 

ESSAY VIII. 
Discipline 3° 

ESSAY IX. 
Method of Discipline 35 

ESSAY X. 
The Epochs of Intellectual Life 40 

ESSAY XI. 
Result of Elemental School Training 44 

ESSAY XII. 
College Life 47 

ESSAY XIII. 
Hygienic 54 

ESSAY XIV. 
The Moral Faculty 57 

ESSAY XV. 
On Religion 61 



viii Contents. 

PAGE 

ESSAY XVI. 
The Perceptive Faculties 65 

ESSAY XVII. 
The Imagination 70 

ESSAY XVIII. 
The Memory 76 

ESSAY XIX. 
The Will 80 

ESSAY XX. 
Reflection and Reasoning 85 

ESSAY XXI. 
Method 90 

ESSAY XXII. 
The Economy of Time 93 

ESSAY XXIII. 
Thrift f 97 

ESSAY XXIV. 
On Style in Speech and Writing 100 

ESSAY XXV. 
Reading 105 

ESSAY XXVI. 
Study 112 

ESSAY XXVII. 
Conversation » 115 

ESSAY XXVIII. 
The Affections 119 

ESSAY XXIX. 
Habits 126 

ESSAY XXX. 
Manners 130 

ESSAY XXXI. 
On a Course of General Studies 136 

Conclusion 145 



SELF-DEVELOPMENT. 



INTRODUCTORY. 

I PURPOSE, in the following essays, to outline 
a system of self-culture, tending to self-develop- 
ment; to state the main objective points to be at- 
tained ; and the fundamental principles by which 
the self culturist is to be guided. 

With the objective points noted, and the prin- 
ciples to guide, the details that may be required, 
varying, to a certain extent, with the individual, 
will naturally be suggested, as the branches of a 
plant grow out of a stem. 

It may be observed of all education, whether 
by others, or by ourselves, that its object is to 
bring out and discipline the faculties of the in- 
corporeal being; and that it is assumed these 
faculties exist in greater or lesser degrees of 
strength. 

Voluntary effort, on our part, is required to 
bring out the faculties ; the necessity to do so 
must be felt ; the purpose must be clear ; and the 
motive power furnished by us ; hence at the very 
outset the beginner should be impressed with the 
fact that the cause of all advancement, its in- 



2 Self-Development. 

centive, and its purpose, must originate with him- 
self ; and that teachers, books and appliances are 
simply helps in his progress, and instruments for 
his use. Others may suggest : he must decide 
and direct; instruction may be tendered, but it 
must be received and assimilated to the needs 
within him, in order to serve, as food must be 
assimilated in order to nourish. 

The distinction between education by others, 
and education by ourselves, does not involve the 
difference commonly supposed. Indeed, all sys- 
tems of education by others, are so many by-paths 
leading to the broad highway of self-culture ; the 
difference is in kind, not in degree ; a difference 
in means, and not of the end to be reached. 

Nor is there the difference commonly supposed 
between the position of a youth dependent on 
his own exertion, and a youth with ample means 
at his command, in their preparation for the act- 
ive life of the nobly ambitious ; each must put 
forth his strength, and train his faculties as a 
courser for the race; each must struggle onward 
with a diligence that never weakens, and a pa- 
tience that never wearies ; each has so much to do, 
by himself and of himself, that help from others 
seems of secondary importance, and insignificant 
in comparison with the help that must be derived 
from his innate resources and his individual ex- 
ertion. 

While these essays, therefore, are intended to 
meet the wants of a youth unfavored by circum- 
stance, they have also in view the needs of a 
youth favored in that respect ; for the latter even 
with every advantage will find only in self-culture 



Introductory. 3 

the way to high achievement ; the faculty and ap- 
pliances of a college may facilitate his labors, but 
will be of little avail, save in subordination to a 
plan of self-culture he should mark out, and a 
resolution he should take, to adhere to a course 
indicated by his individuality, and commended to 
his understanding. 

Let it be conceded, that in the beginning, edu- 
cation should be conducted by others, on account 
of inexperience of the pupil ; the rule should 
cease when the reason for it ceases ; as the youth 
approaches adult age, and is competent to think 
for himself. 

When our spiritual parts have quickened and 
blossomed into life, when the landscape about us 
seems invested with a beauty not hitherto per- 
ceived, when the calm and infantine soul recog- 
nizes its heart-beats, and for the first time is 
"ruffled with the troublings of strange joy," and 
the faint morning rays of an outer and beautiful 
world light up our inner consciousness, and 
evolve yearnings — crude and ill-defined perhaps 
— but imperious and constant, to have the world 
within us harmonize with the world without, in 
its symmetry, its adornment and its glory — these 
conditions, of themselves, assert that the days of 
our tutelage are over; and while we still greatly 
need counsel and help, they must now be of our 
own seeking, and we must rely upon ourselves 
to select. Our wants speak for themselves, and 
in speaking, indicate a path clear to our individ- 
uality — while it may be obscure to others. 

In the self-culture which now engages the at- 
tention of the youth, he should feel a grave re- 



4 Self-Development. 

sponsibility, and exercise the prudence necessary 
to fix upon a course of discipline, which wisdom 
may approve and conscience sanctify. Before he 
adopts a course, let him feel the gravity and mag- 
nitude of the task. Let him feel what self-cul- 
ture is, in full significance — the ignorance it will 
lay bare, the pitiful weakness it will disclose in 
him, and the slow progress over the weary and 
painful road by which it is attained or even ap- 
proached; but let him determine the end justifies 
and glorifies the means ; and let him reckon the 
success of his endeavor, and the fruits of victory. 

To one standing on the isthmus between boy- 
hood and manhood, there is no grander incentive 
than the reflection that life is a lofty career, which 
opens to him opportunities for noble usefulness; 
and that it is a solemn duty to prepare himself ac- 
cordingly, with all the appliances at his com- 
mand ; and the very preparation gratifies the soul, 
because each step gained strengthens us for the 
next ; and as we move onwar-d, we also move up- 
ward. 

Self-culture must have special relation to the 
needs of a lifetime. It must provide for youth, 
manhood and age. It should equip us for inter- 
course with the world, and it should serve us in 
those moments of solitude, irksome to the' un- 
furnished mind, but in which cultivated natures 
find lively satisfaction. It must embrace our en- 
tire immaterial being; each faculty must have 
our attention, and be subjected to such discipline 
as may improve it; and all must move in unison, 
as our individuality may direct, toward the ful- 
fillment of the wise purpose of our being. 



Introductory. 5 

In order to improve our faculties we must 
first know just what they are, in their primitive 
and unripe state. Self-knowledge, therefore, 
must be acquired, and this of itself is a study; and 
a study in which the greatest circumspection is 
required ; lest in the search for truth, we be lured 
by the false lights of our own vain conceits, and 
make the investigation in pride of heart, and not 
in humbleness of spirit. 

The health of the body must have precedence 
over every other consideration, as upon it de- 
pends the proper and thorough use of faculties; 
and the immaterial parts must be dominated by 
a moral nature, that decides without fear or fa- 
vor, for the right and the good, and moves us 
to duty with steady and resistless 'force. These 
the tasks to the aspiring youth ; let him give his 
heart to their achievement, and resolve to use 
whatever good there is in him, as far as finite 
capacity and human infirmity will allow. 

When the faculties are disciplined, knowledge 
is to be acquired, that shall make him a useful 
member of society; and increase the enjoyments 
of solitude and age. 

It may be conceived this culture demands 
earnest thought, continuous painstaking, and a 
perseverance without limit ; and that in our prog- 
ress we shall meet with many impediments, and 
sad reverses, and at times be utterly confounded ; 
nor could we rally our strength, and move for- 
ward, if we were not encouraged by the blessed 
assurance, that we are encompassing the noblest 
work that could occupy our time, or engage our 
attention. 



6 Self-Development. 

Let him, therefore, who aspires to self-culture, 
take heart. Let him bear in mind that all outer 
help is insignificant to the help from within, 
"Paul may plant and Apollos water" but this 
increase must come from soil, made kind and 
generous by his own careful and thorough till- 
age; and must be the result of his own diligent 
and steadfast labor. 



Object of Life. 



ESSAY TWO. 

OBJECT OF LIFE, 

In the dawn of his reflective faculties, as the 
youth looks abroad in the world, he may note 
that all objects, animate and inanimate, have been 
created for a purpose. He may note there is 
purpose in the creation of the beasts of the field, 
the fowls of the air, the fish of the sea; of tree 
and flower, of forest and plain, of hill and dale 
and waterfall. Purpose is so generally written 
upon all created things, that, by inductive reason- 
ing it may be adopted as a rule ; and, even in the 
exceptional cases, which seem without purpose, 
we may give a purpose, although not exposed to 
mortal vision. 

In this atmosphere, redolent of purpose, the 
youth may well ponder and reflect, "all created 
things, in the order of nature, are below me, and 
subserve my will ; if they have a purpose, there is 
a greater reason, if possible, that I should have a 
purpose. To stand purposeless, with purpose on 
every hand, would be an anomaly, and nature 
knows no such deviation from her law." 

Although it seems reasonable life should have 
an object; few, comparatively, endeavor to seek 
the purpose of existence, and to follow the lines 
that reach or approach it. 



8 Self-Development. 

One starting on a journey, usually fixes in his 
mind the point of destination, and the road he 
should travel; yet in the journey of life, of such 
vital import to our well-being; we take without 
thought, blind and misleading paths; or wander 
about aimlessly; without seeking a way our judg- 
ment may approve, and of which true success 
may crown the end. 

It is probable a young man may not be able 
at the outset, to fix specifically his object in Hfe, 
and all the details requisite to attain it; still, he 
can determine upon certain fundamental princi- 
ples, as to the end and means, which will cut off 
many useless digressions, and confine his efforts 
to a proper and restricted channel. 

In order to ascertain our object in life, we must 
consider our place in the economy of nature. We 
are here on earth, amid our fellow mortals, and 
necessarily hold certain relations to them, by 
reason of a common bond of sympathy ; the 
effect of a common origin ; a common nature, and 
a common destiny. Naturally, everything that 
concerns them, concerns us ; we nurse them in 
sickness, comfort them in sorrow ; seek to make 
them contented, and share their joy. We help 
those of tender years, and accede to age the rev- 
erence due. We have a fellow feeling for all, 
as a whole, or individually ; nor is there any- 
thing in nature more attractive to us, or upon 
which we so lavish our sympathy and our assist- 
ance. Not only does human instinct draw us to 
our kind, but if we note their condition, they 
require all the aid and comfort we can tender, 
whether connected with us by the ties of blood. 



Object of Life. 9- 

or association, or the broader bonds of a common 
humanity. The infant requires continuous care 
and attention : Youth needs our experience, and 
counsel, to direct him in wisdom's ways — those 
"ways of pleasantness" : Manhood would be 
barren of interest without our sympathy ; and age 
appeals to us for succor, in the feebleness of de- 
clining years. 

Under these circumstances, it is apparent, that 
whatever course we may shape unto ourselves, 
we should remember the duty to our family, our 
neighbor and our kind. 

Having settled this point as to the world about 
us, we may unselfishly turn to the world within 
us, and note its claim on our consideration. If 
we examine ourselves, we will reach the conclu- 
sion that in order to advance our well-being, the 
peace of mind no condition in life can effect, and 
no circumstance alter, must be sought for and se- 
cured, as far as it may be attainable. A peace of 
mind not of that negative character, which is the 
offspring of supineness or selfishness, but the out- 
growth of earnest attempts to do our duty to 
others, and that not grudgingly but cheerfully — 
"beautifully done.'^ A peace of mind not readily 
attained, but attainable ; and worthy our highest 
endeavor. A peace of mind, the result of disci- 
pline, which keeps us undisturbed by the shock of 
outward circumstance — ever surrounded by a se- 
rene atmosphere ; and leaves us untrammeled in 
the exercise of the duties, in the pursuit of knowl- 
edge, and the cultivation of the tastes which dig- 
nify and adorn human nature. 

Let the youth, at once, have these two broad 



10 Self-Development. 

propositions fixed as beaconlights by which to 
steer his course ; good to his fellow man — to him- 
self, peace of mind; and he will, in good time, 
note the specific channel to be taken, and the de- 
tails necessary to reach the desired termination. 

I am aware it may be said these broad propo- 
sitions should be narrowed in order to serve as 
a guide in our career. 

The propositions are necessarily broad, as they 
are meant to extend to all vocations, and embrace 
all individualities. 

There is no pursuit we may undertake, no in- 
dividuality we may wish to foster, no natural and 
proper tendency we may follow, which may not 
redound to the good of our fellow man, as well 
as our own. It may also be said, I am asking of 
human nature more than it is ready to accede, 
when I expect men to think of others, as well as 
of themselves. 

I recognize the fact that selfishness is a dom- 
inant element in the affairs of mankind. Praise- 
worthy efforts, however, have been and are now 
put forth to lessen its influence, and check its 
growth, by the Benevolent Organizations of Civ- 
ilization — earnest in purpose, and formidable in 
numbers; and individual examples of unselfish- 
ness are common in every hamlet, and not limited 
to race or country. With all this, the more hope- 
ful of us, can hardly perceive, in distant aeons 
of time, selfishness — source of all crime — thrust 
from Earth, as Lucifer was thrown from heaven. 
Even with this prospect we feel the world is 
growing better, and that every unselfish thought 



Object of Life. 'I I 

adds something to the condition, and every un- 
selfish act aids in the growth. 

The course indicated may be objected to as 
Ideal, and unsuited to the Actual; but we must 
bear in mind that it is only by keeping the Ideal 
before us, that we may improve the Actual. In 
our human condition we cannot be perfect, still 
we must set perfection before us, and approach 
it as near as may be permitted by our fallible na- 
ture. 

The poet had an ideal life before him when he 
wrote : 

Who that surveys this span of earth we press, 
This speck of life in Time's great wilderness, 
This narrow isthmus 'twixt two boundless seas. 
The Past — the Future — two eternities; 
Would sully the bright spot, or leave it bare. 
When he might build him a proud temple there, 
A name that long shall hallow all its space. 
And be each purer soul's high resting place. 



1 2 Self-Development. 



ESSAY THREE. 

THE SUBJECT OF SELF-DEVELOPMENT. 

The immaterial being, which is the Subject 
of Self-Development, is considered in these es- 
says, as consisting of the Perceptive Powers, Re- 
flection and Reasoning, Memory, Imagination, 
Will, and the Moral Nature. 

Metaphysicians may make other divisions, but 
other divisions would not seriously affect our 
subject matter. 

Observation discloses the fact that these facul- 
ties are not of the same strength in each indi- 
vidual ; but each faculty has a degree of strength 
varying from the lowest to the highest. Under 
this condition, it is readily perceived that the fac- 
ulties combined in one individual, will rarely have 
a counterpart of a like combination in another 
individual. 

If we take a hundred or more individuals, and 
test their intellectual capacity, there will not be 
two of precisely the same mental attributes ; and 
which, acting together in the various operations 
of the mind act precisely alike; although all the 
individuals had been brought up under the same 
influences, and accustomed to the same environ- 
ment. 



The Subject of Self-Development. 13 

It is these differences of our immaterial being 
that form individuality of character. Our im- 
material parts, as the parts of the material body, 
varying with the individual. 

Individuality of character is a fact of para- 
mount importance in self-culture, and must be 
kept in view as a prominent land-mark, to guide 
us in a proper direction. 

A fact also to be noted is, that a faculty may 
possess a degree of strength that creates a 
tendency or natural inclination in a particular di- 
rection. It may be doubtful whether this tend- 
ency exists universally, it is sufficient for our pur- 
pose that it exists to a considerable extent. 

This tendency or natural inclination moves 
along a path exclusively its own, and congenial 
to its peculiar impelHng force ; and individuals in 
thus following their natural inclination, each by 
a different route, may be likened to the twigs 
of a tree, each seeking for itself the air and sun- 
shine necessary to the development of its health 
and strength. 

It may be remarked that whether this natural 
inclination is upward, toward an improved con- 
dition, or downward toward a depraved condi- 
tion, still it moves along a path exclusively its 
own, and seeks nourishment suited to its partic- 
ular craving. 

It may be further observed, that this natural 
inclination of the individual is the primal and 
main cause of all singular achievements of man, 
whether for good or ill. Hence the necessity for 
restraint upon natural inclinations which have a 
downward tendency, and an endeavor to lift 



14 Self-Development. 

them up ; on the other hand the necessity to foster 
and encourage all of an upward tendency. 

There is another observation to be made in ref- 
erence to our spiritual parts ; one or more may be, 
apparently, tardy of development; the cause of 
which may not be assuredly known, but the effect 
is manifested in indifference to a subject at one 
time, which is supplanted by interest at a subse- 
quent time; it may be that in the earlier period, 
the subject was not presented in a favorable 
light, or so as to kindle an interest ; whatever the 
cause, the fact remains the same, that a faculty 
may not show its strength at the usual time for 
development ; and in this wise, an inclination may 
be latent long after it should naturally appear. 

Again as our bodies require change of diet, at 
succei^^sive periods of existence; in like manner 
our Faculties, as they gradually unfold, require 
change of aliment at stated periods of the unfold- 
ing. 

Hence a system of self-culture should have ref- 
erence to our peculiar individuality; to our nat- 
ural tendency whenever it asserts itself; and to 
the gradual unfolding of the Faculties. 



Self- Knowledge. 15 



ESSAY FOUR. 

SELF-KNOWLEDGE. 

"Know thyself" — trite theme — often preached 
— seldom practised. The many admit the lesson 
it inculcates, but only the few take it to heart! 

A knowledge of ourselves, however, is a pre- 
requisite to self-culture; without it every effort 
in that direction is based upon conjecture, and 
builded in ignorance of its fitness. 

It seems, indeed, the part of wisdom, to build 
the fabric of Self-Culture, upon knowledge as- 
certained by observation and experiment, and not 
upon an assumption of facts concerning our fac- 
ulties, of which we know not anything. 

The subject is now introduced in order it may 
command the early attention of the reader, and 
not with a view of suggesting it must be pri- 
marily acquired. It can only be gained in time. 
Even then it is frequently erroneous and incom- 
plete. So many hindrances have we within us, 
to its profound knowledge ! 

On the other hand it is feasible, by careful ob- 
servation and an unbiased judgment, during the 
period of discipline, to know ourselves to a suffi- 
cient extent to avoid the gravest errors that may 



1 6 Self-Development. 

beset us ; and to use the faculties with which 
we are endowed, usefully, if not to the uttermost 
limit. 

Self-knowledge, indeed, is the only safe guide 
to advancement in Self-Culture. Our means 
place a limitation on our purpose. In providing 
for the career of Hfe, we must consider our means 
before we can determine the bounds of our pur- 
pose, and set about its execution. Self-knowl- 
edge informs us of our means, and indicates those 
bounds within which success may be attained, 
and beyond which we may not pass. It assigns 
to us the part we have to perform in the Drama 
of Life — humble, it may be, but not less useful 
— high, perhaps, but not less responsible. We 
may not all become wise statesmen or profound 
philosophers, but improving each faculty, and 
following the line of our individual tendency, 
as it may be developed by Self-Knowledge, we 
can fill the measure of a full-rounded life, in all 
the completeness of which we are capable. 

If we forego the acquisition of Self-Knowl- 
edge, as a basis of Self-Culture, the alternative 
is to be governed by the accident of position and 
surroundings, and to accept whatever they may 
tender, whether in accord or not with our incli- 
nations ; or we are compelled to await the occa- 
sion of outward circumstance, which may be long 
delayed or never happen, in order to reveal our 
strength. Surely the purpose of existence cannot 
be limited to such modes, or subject to like con- 
tingencies. 

The acquisition of Self-Knowledge requires a 
patient and thorough investigation of each fac- 



Self-Knowledge. 17 

ulty, and the relation of the faculties to each 
other; because it is frequently the case that it is 
not one faculty, but a combination of two or 
more, that makes up the strength of the imma- 
terial being. The study of ourselves, as it, step 
by step, develops Self-Knowledge, not only shows 
the strength of each faculty, or the strength of 
a combination of faculties, but in some individ- 
uals it brings forward a faculty of such unusual 
strength, that it draws all other faculties to its 
support, and enlists them in its service. A com- 
mon effect of a proclivity of this character is not 
only to act in a certain direction, but acting in 
that direction is the best means of serving a use- 
ful purpose ; and if constrained to forego the in- 
clination, or if thwarted or neglected, the entire 
immaterial being is affected and becomes, com- 
paratively, barren of result. 

The investigation necessary in order to acquire 
Self-Knowledge calls into operation, introspec- 
tion and reasoning. By introspection we discover 
the facts showing the nature of our mind ; by rea- 
soning we deduce the consequences. 

In this introspection we must beware of mis- 
leading guides, and not be allured by theory or 
fancy ; but investigate thoughtfully until a result 
is reached commended to our judgment — an en- 
deavor in which we have to contend with that 
element within us, that strives to have our deci- 
sion correspond to our desires, and not with our 
reason. 

With the acquisition of Self-Knowledge de- 
termined upon, and an earnest desire on the part 
of the young man to ascertain just what there is 



1 8 Self-Development. 

in him, and what there is not; let him scrutinize 
his perceptive faculties ; let him tax his memory 
to the verge of rebellion ; note his imagination, 
and how far influenced by a love of the beautiful ; 
let him examine his powers of reflection and rea- 
soning, and know to what extent he may rely 
upon their aid : enquire into his will power — 
above all, search his heart with all diligence, in 
order to provide against the weakness of his 
moral nature, and to avail himself, in due time, 
of its strength. 

Let him note the subjects to which his mind re- 
verts naturally and lovingly, and those it takes 
to unkindly, or with aversion; or those in which 
even duty cannot beget a lively interest. Let him 
note the tendency of his thoughts — the cause of 
his actions — wherein his strength — wherein his 
deficiencies. Let him keep a record, if he choose, 
of all manifestations. Let him subject every fac- 
ulty over and over again, to a searching cross- 
examination, with stern and unbiased determina- 
tion to know the truth, regardless of conse- 
quences ; what he seeks and what he shuns ; what 
interests him and what does not; what task he 
lingers over and wishes it were longer — what 
task though brief is tedious. 

Is he adapted to society or to solitude? Can 
he acquire languages readily? Does the science 
of mathematics concern him? Has he the imag- 
ination, and the perception of form and color, 
that would succeed at the easel? or the reasoning 
faculty that would succeed at the Bar? — these 
are some of the questions he must put to himself, 
and test by every conceivable method, until he 



Self-Knowledge. . 19 

has formed a theory of his individuality ; even 
when he has done so, he must not cease his vigils 
over his faculties, in order to note an error he 
may have made, or an omission he should supply. 
And in this watching let him be patient as well 
as careful. Self-Knowledge cannot spring up in 
a night under the best husbandry; it is of slow 
growth, but the slowest growth makes the hard- 
est timber; and haste may develop the leaf, but 
not the blossom. 



20 Self-Development. 



ESSAY FIVE. 

ON SELF-RELIANCE. 

Our first lesson in S elf-Reliance is learned in 
babyhood. As an infant's limbs wax in strength, 
the mother gradually and tenderly withdraws her 
protecting arm, in order the babe may rely upon 
himself to stand alone; when he has learned to 
do so, she coaxes him to further rely upon him- 
self, in taking a few toddling steps, to his own 
delight, as well as his mother's. While the mother 
is ready to tender all possible aid in the practice, 
still there is a point reached where the babe must 
rely entirely upon himself. 

So it is in life. No matter how much we may 
have relied upon others, for aid and counsel, 
there are periods of life reached, from time to 
time in our career, when we are compelled to act 
independently of all help; and there are prob- 
lems to be solved all through life, which no one 
can solve for us, and which we must personally 
unriddle. 

When school and college days are over, and the 
youth enters upon an active career, usually, he 
is compelled, day by day, to rely upon himself. 



On Sclf-Reliance. 2 1 

If he has accustomed himself to be self-reliant, 
he may face the future without misgivings of his 
success. If he has not acquired the habit, he will 
feel embarrassed in the very beginning and un- 
equipped to fight the battle of life. There are 
many conditions in life, where, if we have not 
learned to be self-reliant, we shall feel, not only 
anxiety, but the condition oft repeated, will give 
rise to an infirmity of purpose which, it need not 
be said, is highly prejudicial to success ; while 
one who is self-reliant, under a like condition, 
may pass through it, as though anticipated and 
provided for. 

Self-Reliance must be founded on Self-Knowl- 
cdge. It must assert itself only within the com- 
pass of our powers. To base it upon powers we 
nave not, is to build upon the sand. A self-re- 
liance involving facts and forerunning action, 
must carefully embrace all the facts ; a partial 
array is hazardous, and might be our undoing. 

A self-reliance beyond the compass of our 
power, or based only on a partial array of facts, 
IS simply Self-Will which provokes defeat and 
disaster. 

As we advance and rely less upon others, and 
more upon ourselves, we should never feel that 
we have reached a point where we are entirely 
independent of the help and counsel of others ; 
but with this distinction : we took such aid in 
youth, in implicit faith because too young to test 
its correctness ; now, we take it, and test it, be- 
fore we act upon it. 

The aspiring youth, with a self-reliance 
founded on his capacity, and knowledge of all 



22' Self-Development. 

the facts, where facts are involved, may carry- 
all things before him; brush aside all impedi- 
ments, and plant his standard on the heights of 
Victory ; while the timid youth looks on, admires, 
but dares not follow the example! 



On Self-Denial. 23 



ESSAY SIX. 

ON SELF-DENIAL, 

Self-Denial! what a volume of meaning is 
infolded by the very word ! From the lowliest 
duty to the loftiest heroism; from the woman 
who bathed His feet with her tears, to the igno- 
minious death on the cross ! 

Self-denial embraces all condition of the moral 
nature, from asceticism to self-indulgence; al- 
though the golden mean between these extremes, 
is the self-denial that serves and is helpful. 

The self-denial that serves, denies to us the 
hours given to a social life which neither in- 
structs nor elevates ; the time given to amuse- 
ments which do not recreate; or the luxuries 
which are a part of an idle life ; but it does not 
deny the hours necessary to sleep ; the sustenance 
of nourishing food; seasonable clothing; nor the 
time required for recreative exercise, or for the 
duties we owe to our kind. 

Self-Denial is an effect, of which the cause, 
in the student's view, is a high settled purpose 
in life; which, to be carried out, must overcome 
all obstacles in its path, and sacrifice whatever 
superfluity stands in the way of its achievement. 

What the superfluities are which may impede 



24 Self-Development. 

our progress, or delay our course, must be deter- 
mined by the circumstances of each individual 
case. I beheve the ambitious youth may be 
trusted with their classification. The simple 
question before him will be, "does the proposed 
indulgence stand in the way of my purpose in 
life?" If it does it must be sacrificed on the 
altar of Self-Denial. 

Take the matters of time and money as illus- 
trative. He will realize the value of tiine; check 
all superfluous ways of passing it, and take care 
of the minutes, leaving the hours to take care of 
themselves. 

As to the expenditure of money, he will re- 
member that thoughtlessness is at the bottom of 
many of our indiscreet outlays. "With judg- 
ment wise to spend or spare" is the rule he will 
follow. With his soul moved to its depths by 
a noble ambition, he will look upon money as 
simply a means to encompass his glorious aim 
and endeavor; why should he divert it into in- 
significant channels, or pervert it to ignoble use? 



Individuality. 25 



ESSAY SEVEN. 

INDIVIDUALITY. 

Individuality is our separate and distinct ex- 
istence apart from all mankind, and distingishes 
us, spiritually, from all others, just as our form 
and features distinguish us bodily from all 
others. In both the spiritual and physical make- 
up, while there is a general resemblance, there 
are also shades of difference, slight though they 
may be; and it is reasonable to assume there is 
purpose in these differences, although, in many 
cases they are almost imperceptible. In physical 
structure the necessity of the difference is appar- 
ent as a means of identification ; in spiritual con- 
formation, there does not seem to be the same 
need, yet a moment's reflection convinces us 
there is even greater need, by reason of the 
diversified uses of the spiritual parts ; as the 
duties of life require an almost illimitable 
number of toilers, each with a different 
combination of faculties ; so philanthropists 
are required ; so are moralists, logicians, teachers, 
tillers of the soil, scientists, inventors mu- 
sicians, artizans, architects, painters, sculptors, 
poets, novelists ; some to meet the duties of outer 



26 Self-Development. 

practical life, others to supply the needs of inner 
spiritual life. 

It has been already stated that a faculty may 
possess a degree of strength that creates a tend- 
ency in a certain direction. It is this tendency 
that marks our individuality more or less dis- 
tinctly, according to its strength ; hence, in using 
the term individuality, I include the tendency 
which aids in its formation. 

In some natures individuality may be of so 
feeble a character as to be scarcely perceptible. 
In others it may be of such strength as to plainly 
outline and indicate a special career; with others, 
of intermediate degrees of strength, it still 
marks the main channel of mental activity, of 
which we should avail ourselves, in order to move 
onward to the greatest advantage. Indeed, the 
current of our individuality, arising as it does 
from the various sources of our intellect meet- 
ing in a common course, is an impelling power 
that cannot be ignored without serious injury; 
and to move counter to it renders our efforts 
puny, if not unavailing. 

Individuality as a factor in self-education is 
illustrated by numerous and unmistakable in- 
stances in history and biography, which estab- 
lish that much of the intellectual labor of man- 
kind has been accomplished, by reason of the pro- 
clivity of the individual, as already mentioned; 
indeed, an individual trait dominating our spir- 
itual nature, revolts at any attempt to lessen or to 
ignore it; and innate conviction calls upon us as 
a duty, to cherish and advance it; because it is 
through a proclivity, as it resolves itself into an 



Individuality. 27 

individuality, and rules our purpose, that we rise 
to higher planes of life. 

The careful observation of what is passing in 
our minds and an impartial decision of the result, 
under which we advance in self-knowledge, and 
which has been noted in a preceding essay, will 
enable us to trace the current of our individuality. 
With many of us that current moves sluggishly 
— we have fair parts — a good memory — average 
reasoning power — a will equal to foreseen ne- 
cessities — yet no decided turn for a special line 
of thought ; and no lively concern in a particular 
pursuit. In this contingency it is prudent to fore- 
go the essay of a prominent career in which suc- 
cess is doubtful, and accept one more humble in 
which we feel success can be assured. The pur- 
pose of life usually fails when we attempt more 
than we can achieve; and he who creditably fills 
the position in life to which he is called by his 
capacity, completes the measure of his duty to 
his fellow man and himself. 

But if a young man's proclivity is made appar- 
ent by self-knowledge, and tends to a useful pur- 
pose, let him hold to the fair possession ; lavish 
his time upon its diligent cultivation, and he may 
assuredly reckon upon a bounteous harvest as 
his reward. 

The self-communings which enable us to bring 
out and use our individuality of character, not 
only serves in indicating the course we should 
pursue, but it has another weighty consequence. 
The habit of considering our individuality, ac- 
customs us to distinguish ourselves from the re- 
mainder of mankind — to separate our individual 



28 Self-Development. 

self from the mass — not to weaken the bond of 
Humanity, but to discharge the duty each man 
owes to himself. Having, made the separation, 
it is natural to be the more interested in our per- 
sonality, and to maintain it conformably to our 
views of propriety and right. 

It is in this manner individuality evolves the 
sentiment of honor — that old-fashioned virtue 
• — falling into desuetude in these days when so 
many are inclined to regard man simply as a cog 
in the wheel of civilization, to aid its movement. 
I refer not to the pseudo-honor of the swash- 
buckler, but that honor which is only a high con- 
ception of duty to others and to ourselves. 

Self-Culture, in accord with individuality, is 
not, necessarily, to the detriment of less prom- 
inent faculties, which in the meanwhile should 
be improved to the extent of their capacity, and 
much of this improvement may be accom- 
plished through our individuality; for it calls 
to its aid all other faculties to the extent of its 
need, and it will absorb all knowledge requisite 
for its purpose; and the knowledge it does not 
absorb, but passes by without concern, is of 
little avail, for the reason no interest in it can 
be invoked ; and where there is not any interest, 
there can be no assimilation of the knowledge, 
consequently no benefit. 

The genius of Shakespeare has spoken on this 
subject. It need hardly be said he has spoken to 
the point, and left little unsaid. 

In the "Taming of the Shrew" Tranio's advice 
to his master, Lucentio, who had come to Padua 
for the purpose of study was, 



Individuality. 29 

"Talk logic with acquaintance that you have, 
And practice rhetoric in your common talk; 
Music and poesy use to quicken you; 
The mathematics and the metaphysics, 
Fall to them as you Und your stomach serve you. 
No profit grows, where is no pleasure ta'en, 
In brief, Sir, study what you most affect." 



3© Self-Development. 



ESSAY EIGHT. 

DISCIPLINE. 

It seems an ungracious task to whisper to the 
youth of high resolve, that discipHne is the only- 
road by which he may enter upon possessions 
made fair by self-culture — a road uninviting in 
its early stages — in which many fall by the v^■ay- 
side from sheer exhaustion ; and in which serious 
impediments often hinder an advance; that if 
he has not the moral nature that can withstand 
the temptations of the enemies that will beset 
him, and a stout heart that will surmoant every 
obstacle, it were in vain to attempt the journey. 
Yet these are facts he must lay to his heart. He 
must serve as apprentice before he can rule as a 
master. He must pass through the stern novi- 
tiate of discipline before he can dedicate himself 
to the serious obligations of a career ; but he can 
be comforted in the expectation that the fruits 
of the struggle will be noble recompense for the 
privations he has endured, and the obstacles he 
has encountered. 

Before a young man enters upon a course of 
discipline, as a basis of self-culture, he should set 
before him an Ideal Life — not a life evolved from 



Discipline. 31 

a vision — ^but founded upon a conception of his 
capacity, his opportunity and his Duty — an ideal 
which should embody his aspirations, and have 
upon it the impress of his purpose in Hfe, with its 
outhne kept undimmed by his earnestness, and 
its color kept unspotted by his enthusiasm. 

Let the youth note the Ideal suggested is with- 
in his capacity — not something in the clouds and 
unattainable. Within that capacity lies the pos- 
sibility of a full rounded life in all its complete- 
ness — a life made of all his faculties diligently 
cultivated. This Ideal he should set up, and 
should look to, especially in his periods of dis- 
couragement, as worthy his noblest efforts to 
attain ; and let him be assured diligence and pa- 
tience will transfigure the actual into the Ideal. 

In having an Ideal life before him, and in the 
endeavor to rise to its level, it is well for the 
youth to read, from time to time, biographies of 
men who have risen in spite of unfavorable cir- 
cumstances, as they serve to arouse — to quicken, 
and to encourage. 

Discipline must not be confounded with the 
acquisition of knowledge. Knowledge, indeed, 
may be acquired while undergoing discipline, but 
at this period, knowledge must be regarded as 
an incidental and secondary matter. 

Discipline is a preparative to the acquisition 
of knowledge. It is the training that enables us 
to acquire and to use knowledge, as the drill of 
the soldier enables him to do service in battle; 
and as in the drill, the soldier's attention is called 
to the movement ordered, independent of its use; 
so in discipline, the attention should be devoted 



3* Self-Development. 

to the habit being formed, rather than to any 
association of the habit, or its connection witn 
any subject. 

Discipline in a general way must embrace the 
entire immaterial being, so that we may improve 
each component part: and does not refer to spe- 
cial training for a particular purpose. 

In this general discipline, the earliest efforts 
must be devoted to arousing the interest to ob- 
serve all that is going on without and within us, 
to reflect on what we observe, and to reason on 
our reflections. 

When the interest is roused, it must be kept 
attentive and prepared to receive whatever may 
minister to the fancy, instruct the mind, or ele- 
vate the moral nature ; and this interest must be 
maintained until, in the course of time, it becomes 
fixed in its place, as a permanent motor of the im- 
material machinery. 

This motor of interest is the source of the fix- 
ity of attention, which closes the door of the 
senses to all else save the subject in hand, and 
enables our spiritual parts to absorb the subject, 
and cause it to permeate the entire being. 

The fixity of attention secures the aid of mem- 
ory — the faithful ally that is ever ready to re- 
ceive and retain whatever is earnestly impressed 
upon it. 

When this interest is kept up and concentration 
of thought becomes less and less difficult — ^mem- 
ory favoring our earnestness — all by continued 
efforts — these efforts in the course of time be- 
come a habit; and habit is discipline. 

In subsequent essays some suggestions will be 



Discipline. 33 

submitted as to the general discipline of each 
faculty. 

Self-educated students know the drill required 
to attain habit — the slow advance — the painful 
errors — the partial successes of the enemies of 
our time and attention — but they hear paeans of 
victory in the distance, and know that indomit- 
able courage will win the fight. 

It is perhaps unnecessary to add that when these 
habits are formed, they must be maintained by 
the same methods under which they were ac- 
quired. The maintenance is indispensable, al- 
though the task, relatively, is light. 

General discipHne of the Faculties will advance 
us in Self-Knowledge. It will enable us to dis- 
tinguish the differenece between facts on the one 
hand, and fancies, theories, assumptions, and in- 
ferences, on the other; and to decide a mooted 
point uninfluenced by passion or predilection. 

If we take each Faculty in its untrained condi- 
tion, we note each may be improved in a greater 
or less degree ; and it is, doubtless, by their culti- 
vation to the highest point to which each may sev- 
erally reach, that we accomplis-h the most. 

The youth, therefore, must keep watch over 
his entire mental Faculties, and suffer no single 
one to be neglected. The weaker must be 
strengthened as far as practicable, and the 
stronger must be maintained in their strength. 

What faculty can we spare, however unimpor- 
tant it may seem, and what faculty, however 
weak, but that its improvement will add material 
strength to the other faculties? 

While the mind must act as a unit, let the 



34 Self-Development. 

youth keep each component part under special su- 
pervision as far as he may. 

Let observation be constant, so that it may 
furnish food for reflection and reasoning. Let 
reflection on things without and within him be a 
habit; let him learn to reason properly and not 
accept dogmas for axioms, assertions for truths, 
or have conclusions unwarranted from the pre- 
mises. Let him keep on the best terms with that 
faithful ally, memory; let his imagination learn 
to take in the beautiful, and make beautiful all 
things that should interest; let his will-power be 
maintained steadfast, and the moral nature give 
to his entire being the glow of its sunlight and 
strength. 

The zealous youth should not lose a day in be- 
ginning this discipline. Every day he is forming 
a habit which if not beneficial to this work, nulli- 
fies it by indifference, if it does not injure it by 
contrary habits. Youth, particularly, is the season 
when the faculties can be best exercised. 
Above all, let it be kept in mind that in "the 
capacity for infinite pains" which discipline 
will in time yield to him, if he is true to him- 
self — lies the chief instrument and mystery of 
that success which is credited to genius. 



Method of Discipline. 35 



ESSAY NINE. 

METHOD OF DISCIPLINE. 

If the student has aspirations for a higher life ; 
if he has determined he will use his moral and 
mental powers to the uttermost ; if he is deeply 
and thoroughly impressed with the idea that dis- 
cipline alone can yield to him the guerdon of a 
noble ambition ; let him promptly execute what he 
has deliberately planned ; let him cast aside faint- 
heartedness and every fear — keep his eye fixed 
on the goal of his high hopes, and resolve he will 
dedicate himself to his self-imposed task, with all 
the strength of his will, and all the concen- 
tered energy of his nature. 

As to the method of discipline, it may be ob- 
served, in a general way, that every student must 
decide for himself the course to be pursued, ac- 
cording to his own individuality. The mode 
which serves one may not serve another ; no two 
minds as no two bodies, are alike in every par- 
ticular. The homely adage applies, "where there 
is a will, there is a way." 

I can tender suggestions, leaving the student 
to interlace them with views coincident to his 
individuality. 

The student must bear in mind that while the 



36 Self-Development. 

effects of early discipline must tinge his entire 
career, the period is limited during which dis- 
cipline may be exercised to advantage, in order 
to merge it into habit. This limited period of 
(discipline, if we would make the most of it, must 
be employed methodically and frugally; methodi- 
cally, because method not only saves time, of 
so much value to us, but discipline is sooner ac- 
quired, in being methodically pursued. Frugally, 
because duties other than discipline — duties, 
which we dare not evade — often take up so 
much of our time, that we can gather only its 
fragments for our particular use. 

In order to use his time methodically, the stu- 
dent should plan, every morning, his duties for 
the day ; in the evening he should review what 
he has done during the day, and note in a journal, 
the progress he has made, and whatever reflections 
may occur to him. If he has loitered on the way, 
the review will spur him to greater effort; if he 
has been diligent it will cheer and encourage. 

I am aware many students will regard keep- 
ing a journal as useless drudgery; indeed, all 
discipline is drudgery to many, who, eventually, 
fall by the way-side. The thoughtful student, 
however, will find it helpful to take his reckon- 
ing, day by day; as the master of a ship takes 
his reckoning, in order to know the speed he has 
made, and the point he has reached. 

The employment of our time methodically, will 
duly give to us those regular habits which help 
us greatly in our efforts at discipline. Our mind 
seems to prefer to move in a regular orbit. It 
prefers to have a duty return at the same time 



Method of Discipline. 37 

every day. The mind Hke the body yearns for 
regular habits. You may swing one or the other 
from its normal condition, as you would a pendu- 
lum from its point of rest; like the pendulum, it 
will naturally return. There is regularity in all 
of Naure's ways, from the sprouting of an acorn, 
to the movement of the spheres; and man was 
made to conform to universal law — but though 
made upright, "he has sought out many inven- 
tions." 

In suggesting a method of discipline, it is well 
to keep in mind, not only the limitations of dis- 
cipline in point of time, but the purpose it is 
meant to subserve. It is rather preparatory to 
his career, than the career itself — as the training 
of a courser for the race is not the race ; and the 
drill of the soldier for the conflict, is not the con- 
flict. 

The period of discipline, to which I have ref- 
erence, is three years between fourteen and twen- 
ty years of age, varying according to circum- 
stances in its beginning. The student should 
have a course of study for this period. If he is 
undergoing a curriculum at a school of learning, 
the course may serve, although he would not have 
selected it; as it is discipline he seeks, and the 
media are of secondary importance. I say sec- 
ondary, with a reservation. I submit, the media 
while they serve as discipline must be of a char- 
acter to interest ; and why may they not also be 
a channel for the acquisition of useful knowledge, 
without foregoing the discipline? 

If he is not at school, he should make out a 
course. It is probable he has in mind one or more 



38 Self-Development. 

studies in which he has an interest; if he has 
not, and believes he could become interested in 
any useful study, let him take counsel of some 
learned and judicious friend, to aid him in the se- 
lection. 

The course to be adopted should consist of few 
studies, pursued consecutively and not concur- 
rently, if interest does not flag in doing so. If 
he conquers to completeness, logic ; geometry for 
itself, and as an aid to logic; and English gram- 
mar; he may be assured he is well on the road 
to proper discipline, and may then undertake 
other studies for the purpose. 

It may be said that for a youth of fourteen, 
Logic is a study in advance of his years. I fail 
to see the correctness of the supposed assertion. 
His reasoning power is developed. He is re- 
garded in law as a reasonable being, responsi- 
ble for his acts ; why should not his untrained 
reason be trained at once? 

The hours of discipline and study often depend, 
more or less, on other duties. I think the early 
morning hours, if they can be secured, are best 
for the purpose: In my own case, an early morn- 
ing hour is worth two hours later in the day. 
The mind seems more clear, and relieved of all 
outer influences ; more eager to receive impres- 
sions, than at any other period of the day. 

The zealous youth must bear in mind that the 
course of study during the novitiate of discipline 
is only part of the training he must undergo. 
Study will aid him to develop the Reflective and 
Reasoning Faculties, and strengthen his memory ; 
but observation must ever be on the alert as a 



Method of Discipline. 39 

further aid to reflection: the will power kept 
ready to execute promptly, what he has judi- 
ciously planned ; the imagination must be brought 
out to recognize beauty, in whatever shape it 
may assume; and the moral nature must rule 
over all, with the clear perception to distinguish 
the right and the good, and to follow both with 
firm step and a joyous heart. If I iterate, it is to 
impress. 

I tender these suggestions as an illustration of 
what the student should do ; trusting that in his 
self-reliance, he may adopt a plan of his own, 
suitable to his individuality, and conforming to 
the circumstances in which he may be placed. 



40 Self-Development. 



ESSAY TEN. 

THE EPOCHS OF INTELLECTUAL LIFE. 

The characteristics of our immaterial parts 
seem to be as follows : 

The moral nature is developed in childhood, 
grows and gathers strength in manhood, under 
proper training; and is maintained by discipline 
until the close of life. 

In childhood and youth, running into man- 
hood, at stages varying with the individual, the 
memory is most impressible, and retentive. 

At stages of manhood, varying with the indi- 
vidual, the memory becomes less and less im- 
pressible and retentive ; in age in a general way, 
and apart from subjects of special interest, it is 
of slight service, save in its retentiveness of early 
impressions. 

The imagination is developed in childhood, al- 
ways retains its normal condition, and is not af- 
fected by age. 

The perceptive faculties have much the same 
characteristics as the imagination, being devel- 
oped early, retaining their normal condition, and 
being unafi'ected by age. 

The mental powers of reflection and reasoning 
do n6t usually develop as soon as the memory or 



Epochs of Intellectual Life. 41 

the imagination. They appear in youth, but are 
hardly prepared for effective discipline before the 
approach of adult age, although they are retained 
in their full power up to the approach of age, 
and sometimes to advanced life. 

The will matures with the body, is strongest 
in manhood and grows feeble in the decline of 
life. 

These broad propositions involve many excep- 
tions, and serve, only in a general way, to mark 
our intellectual condition at various periods of 
existence. 

Our intellectual life may be divided into three 
parts : 

The period of discipline — say up to twenty 
years of age. 

The period of acquisition or knowledge — say, 
from twenty to forty years of age. 

The period of using and imparting knowledge 
— say from forty to sixty years of age ; these 
periods varying with the individual as to time 
and circumstances. 

During the first period, it is understood, 
knowledge may be acquired while undergoing 
discipline, but at this time it is only an incident 
of education. 

During the second period, it is also understood 
that discipline will be maintained in the acquisi- 
tion of knowledge; and that the period is fixed, 
because the memory grows less and less retentive 
as we approach age ; when an attempt at the ac- 
quisition is of little avail, save, as stated, in mat- 
ters of special interest. 

But this gradual weakening of the memory is 



42 Self-Development. 

usual only with contemporary subjects ; and while 
the weakening may render further acquisition, 
nearly, if not altogether fruitless, it leaves us 
free to devote our entire time to using and im- 
parting the knowledge we have garnered and as- 
similated. 

In this view of the subject, it is apparent the 
discipline of all our faculties, save the powers of 
reflection and reasoning, may be begun, even in 
childhood; and the discipline of the excepted 
powers may begin with the approach of adult 
age; that all the faculties, save memory and will, 
usually remain in their integrity, and may be 
maintained by discipline up to the confines of 
age, if not to advanced life; and that effectual 
service of the memory and will cannot always be 
expected after manhood. 

In the endeavor to mark the limit of discipline 
as to age by broad propositions, the numerous 
exceptional cases do not suffer; for instance, if 
the discipline of the reflective and reasoning pow- 
ers is begun only on the approach of adult age, 
prior to that period the discipline of the remain- 
ing faculties, and the bodily exercise indispens- 
able during the period of growth, will absorb all 
the time the student has at his disposal. 

Again, if on the approach of age, the memory 
begins to fail as to contemporary subjects, and 
the will grows feeble, still as this is the period 
for using and dispensing our unsunned acquisi- 
tions, there is slight need of the memory of con- 
temporaneous subjects, and the will is sufficient 
for the purpose in hand. 

It seems expedient that during our entire ca- 



Epochs of Intellectual Life. 43 

reer we should keep in touch with the knowledge 
which creates and amuses. It is prudent to pro- 
vide suitable mental resources to fill what, other- 
wise, would be idle moments caused by mental or 
bodily condition or unfavorable circumstance. 
Ever keeping in touch with this kind of knowl- 
edge, as we approach age we will take up 
our Shakespeare, Pope, Scott or Dickens with 
renewed and increasing delight. 

But if we have not kept up our reading of 
this character, our wayward fancy, when we 
are old, and need it most, may feel averse to 
it, and coquettishly decline the tardy atten- 
tion it would have earlier welcomed. 



44 Self-Development. 



ESSAY ELEVEN. 

RESULT OF ELEMENTAL SCHOOL TRAINING. 

As this treatise is intended for the youth 
who has passed the period usually devoted to 
the Elemental School, and who, presumably 
has had some experience in its teachings; it 
seems proper and necessary that prior to his 
decision as to his future course, he should, in 
a calm and impartial spirit, review and sum 
up the results of such elemental training as he 
may have had; inasmuch as the more dis- 
cipline he may have been subjected to in the 
past the less will be required in the future, 
and vice versa. 

I invite special attention to this review, be- 
cause I believe a youth in his own hopeful- 
ness, and through pedagogical influence, is apt 
to overrate the circumstances of his common- 
school course, and the degree in discipline he 
has reached; and the overrating is prejudicial 
to future training, and must be dispelled as an 
illusion, in order it may not impede his ad- 
vancement. 

A serious fault common to schools and all 
means of education by others, is that they sub- 
stitute other's views for our own. They sugf- 



Elemental School Training. 45 

gest a groove into which our thoughts should 
fall, and where they should remain ; so that in 
time one's views and opinions are simply a re- 
flex of those around him, instead of being the 
result of his own enquiry and investigation. 

It is for this reason it often happens we 
have to unlearn as well as learn ; we have con- 
stantly to be on our guard against impercep- 
tibly imbibing the opinions of others, without 
thought of their correctness ; instead of weigh- 
ing their value, and being guided by our own 
criterion, and influenced by our own judg- 
ment. 

When the pedagogue has publicly pro- 
claimed or tacitly acknowledged his pupil has 
had all the benefit an elemental school may 
confer; it is quite natural the pupil should be- 
lieve his attainments have been measured by 
competent authority; and that his education 
has gained a certain mile-stone on his jour- 
ney; the belief is strengthened in many cases, 
in view of the fact that he has attended 
school continuously, from the age of six years 
until he is sixteen. However it may be, if 
the youth determines he will take the reins of 
culture into his own hands, and prepare him- 
self for a career, he must make an inventory of 
past acquisitions in order to be advised of 
future necessities. He will, therefore, insti- 
tute a searching enquiry into the strength and 
discipline of each faculty : as, for instance, how 
far his powers of observation have been 
strengthened; whether his reasoning power 
has been brought out and attained a rudi- 



46 Self-Development. 

mentary stage; how far his imagination has 
been improved; and whether school influence 
has tended to elevate his moral nature. When 
he has enquired into the advancement of the 
several faculties, let him note how far the 
school has otherwise prepared him for a 
career. Has it taught him habits or manners? 
Has it aroused an interest in study, or a de- 
sire to be useful? 

Commencing in this wise he may be able 
to distinguish between the apparent and the 
actual advantages of his elemental course. 

If he discovers a broad difference between 
one and the other, let him be thankful he has 
made the discovery in time to retrieve errors 
for which he is not accountable; and if such 
self-pxamination wounds his pride of opinion 
in his acquisitions, it will at the same time im- 
part to him that humbleness of spirit, which is 
the proper frame of mind to commence self- 
culture. 



College Life. 47 



ESSAY TWELVE. 

COLLEGE LIFE. 

Among youths who have completed a course 
of study in common or high school, there are 
usually a certain number who are expected by 
their parents or guardians to take a Collegiate 
course ; and if not already prepared to enter 
college, preparation is made for the purpose. 

It happens frequently that a youth is not 
consulted on this important subject, save in a 
perfunctory manner. His inexperience sub- 
jects him as clay in the hands of the potter; 
and, too often, there is not even an explana- 
tion tendered to him, as the governing motive 
in sending him to college. " 

It seems to me, a youth, prior to his prepara- 
tion for a college life, should be fully advised 
of the object of that life; the proper way to 
attain the object, the discipline necessary, the 
self-denial he must practice ; the habits he 
must form ; the advantages that will accrue if 
he uses properly this grand opportunity, 

" — which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune,'* 

To have a youth prepared for college without 
informing him of the reason for the step, and 
the advantage it will be, leaves him to find 



48 Self-Development. 

out the reason and advantage for himself, and 
of his own motion ; now, if he is too young to 
be consulted on the matter, and an explana- 
tion could not be understood on account of his 
inexperience; is he not also too inexpert to 
discover the advantage for himself, from his 
own crude standpoint? Yet he must know the 
advantage in order to arouse his interest, as 
without interest his attempt to study is of no 
avail. 

It is true that a youth is not given to re- 
flection, at the time of life when the prepara- 
tion for college is usually made. Still, if ex- 
pected to go through a college course, he 
should know beforehand, as far as practicable, 
the leading part he is to perform in that sec- 
ond act of the Drama of his existence; and 
that leading part should be faithfully im- 
pressed upon his memory. Whilst he may not 
understand at the time, all that may be men- 
tioned on the subject, he will doubtless under- 
stand much of it ; and be better equipped to fulfill 
the expect^ations of all interested in his wel- 
fare, than if he had not received any prior ex- 
planation whatever. 

As there may be youths preparing for a col- 
lege life, who are not favored with explana- 
tions of this character, I will tender a few 
hints that may enable them to supply the 
omission, and arouse an interest in their col- 
lege studies when the time favors. 

I would approach a youth under these cir- 
cumstances and say: "Now, my dear bo}^ you 
are about to travel over the same road I have 



College Life. 49 

travelled, and I think I can give to you some 
suggestions which will be useful on the jour- 
ney. I can advise you of its rough, as well as 
of its smooth places ; its delights and its dan- 
gers; its trials, temptations, and glorious ex- 
pectations. 

"Of course, your views as to your object in 
life are yet unshaped ; but I feel you would 
like to be, not altogether useless in the world, 
and not discontented with your lot in life. If, 
then, you would desire to be useful to others, 
and contented within yourself ; you must serve 
others, and try to know good from evil, so that 
you may follow the good. The more exten- 
sive the bounds of your knowledge, the better 
you can serve and help others, because their 
wants will still o'erstep your limited re- 
sources. 

"In order to increase your knowledge you 
must undergo discipline. You know the drill 
required in using the bat, or catching the 
ball; now, discipline is a drill of the inind, as 
using the bat is a drill of the eye and arm. 

"Discipline enables you to acquire knowl- 
edge, as drill enables you to catch the ball. 

"College life is a life of discipline which 
tends to aid you in the acquisition of knowl- 
edge, so as to make you useful to others, and 
in order to cultivate and cherish a contented 
spirit. 

"This discipline in college assumes many 
forms, among which are : 

Exercising the memory. 

Fixing the attention, 



50 Self-Development. 

Encouraging meditation, 

Bringing out the reasoning power. 
This discipline is evolved in a great measure 
from study. In order to study effectually, 
you will require all the time you can possi- 
bly have at your disposal ; therefore must fore- 
go many ways you have in spending it for less 
useful purposes. In foregoing these ways, 
your self-denial is exercised. Self-denial in 
one matter suggests self-denial in another and 
still another; until it becomes a habit, and 
gives you the strength of will to put away 
many other inclinations, habits and cravings 
which, otherwise, would stand between you 
and your expectations. 

"You may not understand all this just now; 
but I know you will reflect on it, and I be- 
lieve you will understand it in good time. 

"Remember, there are two educations — one 
from others — the more important from your- 
self: in fact, you must rely less and less upon 
others in all your efforts as you progress; 
and more and more upon yourself; until a 
teacher's aid, while still helpful, is not a neces- 
sity; because you will have learned to teach 
yourself, which is the aim and endeavor, in- 
deed, the main object of all education. 

"Do not begin a study without arousing a 
lively interest in it; otherwise you go, as it 
were, to a feast without an appetite. If you 
do not perceive the uses and advantages of 
the study; and the discipline it will give to 
you close the book until you do. To en- 
deavor to pursue a study without being in- 



College Life. 51 

terested in it in any manner will not benefit 
you, and is simply a waste of time. It is 
probable, however, that you will reflect that 
all discipline is self-sacrifice, more or less ; and 
that Duty may move you when other incen- 
tives fail. 

"Emulation among members of your class 
in various studies is often put forward as an 
incentive to exertion ; but emulation is a sorry 
motive. Whilst friendly rivalry is not ob- 
jectionable, the motive in your endeavors 
should spring from a higher source. You 
should excel, not to score a victory over your 
fellows, but for the sake of the excellence 
and in order to reach perfection, as far as 
your capacity will allow. 

"Already you know something of habits, 
because day by day you are now forming 
them. I commend your thoughtfulness to 
the subject. Good habits will be allies in your 
aspirations. Bad habits will be enemies. 
Slight introspection will enable you to dis- 
tinguish one from the other. Brilliant men 
have failed in life, because they had acquired 
indolent habits or idle ways, from which they 
could have freed themselves while young; 
but which, in time grew fixed and irresistible. 
Cleave to the habits which help, and when you 
find a habit that cumbers your path ; put it by 
promptly and for all time. You will soon 
know, if you do not already know, that habit 
makes the man, and that you will serve 
others and yourself, and reach real success in 
life; just in proportion as you have freed 



52 Self-Development. 

yourself from any ill habit you may have 
formed, and cleaved to the good. 

"Prepare your habits, as well as your 
mathematics for college, and when you enter 
it feel that its doors have closed upon any ill 
habits you may have formed, and that you 
have brought to your studies all the good 
habits which help. 

"It is well, also, for you to remember that, 
while it is commonly supposed a college course 
of study fits one for the sphere of ordinary 
life, a College Faculty usually does not hold 
out any such proposition. It does not even 
propose to embrace the entire field of disci- 
pline in its curriculum. It proposes to the 
collegian only a certain limited course of 
study, which leaves out many subjects im- 
portant for you to know and to practice. A 
College Faculty does not propose to instruct 
in manners, the cultivation of the affections, 
self-denial, and many other subjects. You 
will, therefore, accept what a College Faculty 
may tender to you in the way of instruction 
and discipline, but keep in mind what it does 
not offer, and the needs it does not supply. 
Those needs I have referred to in these essays. 
Read one of them carefully. Meditate upon 
it. Do not adopt a suggestion offered unless 
it has the voluntary homage of your unquali- 
fied approval. If, upon a suggestion made, you 
can build something better than I have done, 
I am willing mine should serve as the humble 
foundation hidden beneath your superstruc- 
ture. 



College Life. 53 

"When you shall have, in this wise, com- 
pleted one essay, go on to another, and an- 
other; meditating upon each in like manner. 
Build something better; something of your 
own — that will be better, for it will be tinged 
with your individuality. All this will require 
infinite pains, but infinite pains are the method 
under which genius wins the laurel." 

With these explanations, the youth may en- 
ter college as an heir, prepared to cultivate a 
fair and goodly heritage. He will find there 
the learned professors who instruct ; a library 
and appliances for his use ; youths of his own 
age to meet in hours of recreation ; and the 
very atmosphere redolent of happy influences. 
There he may, in the seclusion of his cham- 
bers, have the solitude necessary for study and 
meditation ; a solitude where he may nurse 
his infant thoughts, and callow aspirations 
until they grow, wax in strength, and in the 
fulness of time move men, communities and 
empires. 



54 Self-Development. 



ESSAY THIRTEEN. 

HYGIENIC. 

The object of self-culture is to bring out, dis- 
cipline, and strengthen each faculty of our 
immaterial being; these faculties have such re- 
lation to, and sympathy with, our material 
being that it is indispensable to maintain the 
latter in sound condition, in order to have the 
full benefit of the former. 

It is in vain, therefore, that a young man 
expects intellectual advancement, commensur- 
ate with his capacity, unless he commences 
with health, and maintains it in a normal con- 
dition, under regular habits, and temperate 
and inexorable rules. 

In order to ensure faithful obedience to the 
laws of health he must be moved by that im- 
pelling power, which under the name of Duty 
IS the cause of all praiseworthy action. Duty 
here, as elsewhere, should be 

"a light to guide." 
Let the young man settle the point at once 
and for all time, that without health he can- 
not be useful to others, he cannot have his 
own peace of mind; and that the proper care 
of it shall be of primary importance to him and 
paramount to all other duties, because all other 
duties of life depend upon it. 



Hygienic. 55 

Our sensations, if we only heed their warn- 
ing note, indicate the food we should use, the 
garments which should protect, and the habits 
we should adopt; otherwise, ordinary pru- 
dence reveals to us the care to be given to 
our physical structure. It is usually the 
thoughtless who suffer, and the remedy of 
thoughtfulness is in their own hands. 

The young man eager to advance in intel- 
lectual pursuits feels that the shortness of 
life is a reason why every available moment 
of time should be employed for the purpose; 
and if, when nature appeals to him for the 
sleep through which she restores ; the exercise 
to which she is entitled ; or moderation and 
judiciousness in his diet; he haggles with her 
and concludes by defrauding her of her rights 
— as he conceitedly supposes ; let him remem- 
ber that nature never yet was baffled in this 
wise without resenting it. She favors those 
who obey her law, but punishes those who do 
not with unsparing justice, and without hope 
of reprieve or pardon. Let the aspiring youth 
be her loyal subject and she will honor him; 
but if he dare be an outlaw, let him be as- 
sured a price will be set upon his head, and in 
due time he will feel the terrible might of her 
vengeance. 

Our best schools of learning provide in- 
structors and appliances for athletic sports, 
and encourage them in every manner, but it 
seems questionable whether the exciting na- 
ture of many, is not incompatible with the ab- 
straction required in application to study. In 



^6 Self-Development. 

this case the student might observe a golden 
mean, by eliminating from his recreations all 
those which are of this nature. 

Schools where students may have exercise 
in mechanical, farm, or garden labor, or other 
pursuits having some practical object in view, 
and not of an exciting character, yet giving 
the needful recreation, commend themselves 
to the young aspirant. 

Before a youth attains full growth he re- 
quires more exercise than when mature. Na- 
ture has so ordered it, as exemplified in the 
daily life of children, who are usually in mo- 
tion from morn to night. 

Six hours a day before maturity, and four 
hours a day afterward might be considered a 
lavish and hazardous investment of our pre- 
cious time, for purposes of recreation ; but it 
would yield noble and assured dividends. 

These matters of diet, clothing, habits, and 
exercise require our utmost caution from the 
fact that ill effects from one or another of 
these causes do not always appear at once, 
and in a manner to retrieve an error, but they 
are frequently developed tardily, or when too 
late to remedy. 

Let it be borne in mind, as an illustration, 
that instances of longevity resulting from 
health, are commonly from the ranks of those 
whose circumstances compelled them to be 
simple and frugal in their diet, whose lives 
were passed much in the open air, devoid of 
excitement, and under the exaction of constant 
labor. 



The Moral Faculty. SI 



ESSAY FOURTEEN. 

THE MORAL FACULTY. 

In the self-culture to which a youth may 
dedicate himself, there is no discipline more 
important than that which seeks to bring out 
the Moral Faculty in its full strength, and to 
elevate it to its full height; because it is the 
sole guide by which the discipline of the re- 
maining faculties may be directed into proper 
channels, and achieve desirable ends. 

The Moral Faculty enters into the concerns 
of daily life; its cultivation tinges that life 
with a supernal hue, no training of the intel- 
lect without it, could impart; it furnishes to 
the intellect its grandest incentives, and gives 
to it an impetus it cannot have from arty other 
source. 

In the discipline of the Moral Faculty the 
precepts are few — their practice invites our 
utmost thoughtfulness, and calls into service 
all happy restraining influences. 

Leaving aside the religion of Christ to be 
discussed by Jew or Gentile, His ethics may 
be accepted by mankind without qualification, 
and embody a code which in its completeness, 
its simplicity and its brevity leaves no point 
unnoticed, and no part misunderstood. 



58 Self-Development. 

Let the youth who ^eeks self-culture take 
the few precepts of this code to his heart, and 
in the solitude of his chamber, meditate upon 
the manner in which its great Expounder car- 
ried out its spirit in his daily walk and con- 
versation. 

When we reflect that discipline of the 
Moral Faculty enables us to reach an eleva- 
tion of character indispensable to all who 
would lead a life of completeness ; and that 
a relaxation may entail serious and far-reach- 
ing consequences ; it seems impossible to over- 
rate its importance, or that we can be over- 
zealous in its acquisition. 

The discipline of the Moral Faculty, as dis- 
tinguished from the discipline of other facul- 
ties, demands unceasing vigilance; and while 
habit aids this, as well as other faculties, there 
must be joined to it constant introspection 
and endeavor; as long as life lasts we are 
never secure against the temptation that may 
disturb our serenity of mind, nor the selfish- 
ness that may come between our neighbor and 
ourselves. 

But if the discipline is life-long and with- 
out remission; the good result is immeasurable 
and without a disquieting element. 

Humanity ofifers no grander spectacle than 
the man whose life is governed by law; whose 
conscience applies that law with the impartial- 
ity of a judge; and whose decisions under the 
name of Duty are executed in justice to others 
and to himself. 

It is presumed that in the early morning, if 



The Moral Faculty. 59 

not in the previous evening, the young man 
will plan his occupations for the day. As the 
evening closes he can safely follow the coun- 
sel of the heathen philosopher: 

"Let not sleep close thine eyelids until 
thou hast thrice reviewed the actions of the 
past day. What have I done? What have I 
left undone? Where have I turned from the 
path of rectitude? Begin thus at the first ac- 
tion and proceed to the last. At the evil 
thou hast done be troubled, but rejoice for the 
good." 

It is a happy incident in our moral nature, 
that where even a single virtue becomes a 
habit it attracts other virtues to it; as one vir- 
tue grows, others grow in sympathetic rela- 
tion; and these virtues in time, aid in the for- 
mation of that combination called character, in 
which each virtue not only remains intact, but 
the combination gives to us an armor that re- 
sists alike the temptations of prosperity; the 
hardships of adversity; and secures from out- 
ward shock that contentment without which 
busy life is without joy, and age without re- 
pose or cheer. 

In the field of discipline to which his im- 
material being bids him, the young man can 
find no portion, as in this, in which self-cul- 
ture must be so entirely relied upon, and in 
which earnest endeavor will achieve greater 
results. 

The school of learning he may attend could 
aid him, but it is not a part of its programme. 
It is a neutral power in the preparation for this 



6o Self-Development. 

stern and prolonged conflict of his life, be- 
tween his good and his evil genius, for the 
noblest end to which he could aspire. If he 
gives promise of becoming a Greek scholar 
or a mathematician of renown, it is of no con- 
sequence to it, whether he has the moral cour- 
age to maintain the truth and the right, or the 
wholesome fear to do a wrong. 

Let the young man supply the grave omis- 
sion, if not the criminal neglect. Let him con- 
sider that all learning is of little avail, save it 
be deeply tinctured with a sense of life's re- 
sponsibility; a thorough conviction of Diity to 
others and to himself; a high conception of 
moral worth; and a discipline that will serve 
him in the hour of temptation. 

Our moral nature is a potent instrument 
for intellectual growth. Illustrations could 
be furnished from many lives in which a dis- 
ciplined and lofty moral nature wrought won- 
ders under the conviction of Duty; and Duty 
is the expression of our moral nature when it 
becomes sanctified by its elevation. 



On Religion. 6l 



ESSAY FIFTEEN. 

ON RELIGION. 

In my imaginings on the natural parts of a 
youth it never occurs to me that he may have 
low instincts or sordid motives of action ; that 
he may be without definite purpose, and with- 
out an object in life to lift him above the beasts 
of the field. I seem to realize that he has high 
desire, pure motive, fixed purpose, and a 
determination to rise. What would the world 
be to him, or, indeed to any of us, if we had 
not aspirations for a higher life? 

These aspirations of themselves are a re- 
ligion; they are emanations of the Divine 
Power within us. We have only to watch 
over them vigilantly, nurture them thought- 
fully, discipline them thoroughly, and they 
will lead us onward and upward until we reach 
the plane where we will find the footprints of 
the Grand Master, which we may safely take 
and follow to the end. 

I have stated these aspirations for a higher 
life emanate from the Divine Power within us ; 
because in spite of all that has been said to the 
contrary, I believe that mankind are more dis- 
posed to good than to evil ; that our conscience 



62 Self-Development. 

came unspotted into the world; and though 
often checked or stunted in its growth by un- 
friendly surroundings, or warped by passion or 
selfish interest, its voice asserts itself when- 
ever the environment is changed, the passion 
subsided, and the selfishness thrust aside. 
Were it otherwise man would never turn from 
his evil ways, and repentance would be a word 
without meaning. 

Sheldon's "In His Steps" made a profound 
impression on me. He showed a highway so 
clear no one could miss ; and all could take. 
The journey he suggests requires neither scrip 
nor purse. The sole requirement to reach 
the end is to leave behind whaC could well 
be spared — all considerations of self. The 
story he tells is simple; the lesson it imparts 
elevates and inspires. Let the youth lay it to 
his heart, until he has fixed self-denial in his 
moral system, as the sun in the universe, 
around which all other virtues, like planets, 
may revolve. 

It may be said that in this instance, as in 
many others, it is easier to give the precept 
than to illustrate it by example. This is true, 
but there is no dififiiculty in the illustration 
that may not be overcome by him, who is 
moved by a noble ambition. Let the youth 
grapple with the first self-indulgence that 
stands in the way of his high hopes. It will 
prove a puny adversary in determined hands. 
Each combat strengthens him for the next 
conflict, until his enemy gives way at his ap- 
proach. 



On Religion. ^3 

The student will feel cheered on his way to 

self-abnegation if he will call to mind the many 
good souls about us who practice self-denial, 
seemingly without thought. Wordsworth re- 
fers to this class in his ode to Duty — one of 
the finest spiritual poems of the language: 

"There are who ask not if Thine eye 
Be on them; who in love and truth. 
Where no misgiving is, rely 
Upon the genial sense of youth. 
Glad hearts! Without reproach or blot: 
Who do Thy work, and know it not." 

If others can fulfil Life's Duties in this wise 
unconsciously, who do their work, and "know 
it not," why may not the eager youth reach 
through training, what these have reached at 
a bound? 

If we hearken to the sublime teachings of 
the Grand Master, and seek to follow "In His 
Steps" — and even an agnostic could do so con- 
sistently — our spiritual life would grow until 
every thought felt the sweet influence; and 
every object about us would be softened with 
the haze of a summer day. It would make 
every flower more splendidly hued ; every 
blade of grass more richly tinted ; every bab- 
bling brook more musical. It would take the 
form of honor to manhood, reverence to wo- 
manhood, tenderness to the young, thought- 
fulness to the old. 

When the zealous youth reaches that period 
of his existence wherein he feels the heart 



64 Self-Development. 

throb palpably with aspirations for a higher 
life; when these aspirations are moulded into 
a resolution to achieve in substance what he 
perceives in form ; when he decides that every 
self-indulgence in the way shall be met and 
fought with all the force of his nature; when 
he sees plainly the pathway he should take 
imprinted with His feet; in His steps let him 
walk to the end. Let him walk assuredly, 
glad in heart and humble in spirit; and as he 
moves on beams of light from above will make 
his path brighter, and his heart more and more 
joyous with a great joy. 

When he has fairly started on this pilgrim- 
age, if systems of Faith are tendered to him on 
one side or forms of Worship on the other, he 
is prepared to decide whether one or both 
will help or hinder on the way; and accept or 
reject as his necessity requires, or his judg- 
ment may determine. 



The Perceptive Faculties. 65 



ESSAY SIXTEEN. 

THE PERCEPTIVE FACULTIES. 

The effect of training upon the Perceptive 
Faculties is well known. The sailor discovers 
an object on the horizon, the landsman's vision 
sweeps in ignorance. The Indian notes the 
trail of an animal, the unpracticed eye fails to 
perceive; the musical ear finds discord un- 
noticed by another; the money-changer detects 
a false bill by the touch, and wine-tasting is an 
occupation ! Other facts might be adduced 
tending to show that through training the Per- 
ceptive Faculties may be cultivated, and in the 
cultivation, widen the field of their usefulness, 
and minister to our gratification. 

It is well to mark that while some are pe- 
culiarly adapted to this training, as the musi- 
cal ear to perceive harmony ; the main portion 
of those subjected to it are not selected by 
reason of personal fitness, but taken indiscrim- 
inately, and without reference to other than an 
average condition of these Faculties : Indians, 
generally, know more or less of wood-craft, 
and sailors' visions are acute and far-seeing. 

If we turn from a normal condition of the 
faculties to an abnormal condition, we note 



66 Self-Development. 

that the loss of sight tends to bring out the 
sense of hearing and of touch, perhaps of taste 
and smell; and these are unconsciously trained 
to supply, as far as practicable, the loss of vi- 
sion : in like manner the deaf unconsciously 
educate the eye-sight. 

These circumstances are encouraging to him 
who desires to discipline his perceptive facul- 
ties. If the untutored savage, or the sailor be- 
fore the mast, or the blind or deaf, can train 
himself in this manner ; surely there is no seri- 
ous difficulty to overcome, and something in 
that way may be accomplished by the aspiring 
youth himself. 

It is evident the discipline of the Percep- 
tive Faculties cannot be materially aided by 
books, and the young man at college may be 
invited to learn what these Faculties are 
theoretically, but not to discipline them prac- 
tically. 

The senses of touch, taste and smell have 
manifest uses. It is through the ear that a 
proclivity for music may be fostered, to the 
delight of others and of ourselves : otherwise 
the sense of hearing ministers to our pleasure 
in human speech, in the melody of instru- 
ments, the carol of birds, the sighing of the 
wind in the forest, the sound of falling waters, 
and the moaning of the ocean waves as they 
break upon the shore. 

The sense of sight seems pre-eminent in its 
usefulness. As a great Purveyor it forages 
the visible world with keen and thorough 
adeptness, and lays its spoils at the feet of th*.- 



The Perceptive Faculties. 67 

Reflective Powers, in order they may be 
wrought into philosophic thought or poetic 
sentiment : yet how few accept the spiritual en- 
tertainment it offers, and bids us to feast upon 
it and be filled ! 

The discipline of the faculty of sight must 
begin by a conception of its importance which 
will arouse the interest (the mainspring of 
intellectual progress) and which will move us 
towards the objective point with all the force 
of our nature. 

When a young man is thoroughly impressed 
with the importance of observing, of its utility, 
and of its capability to inform and to gratify; 
his interest, doubtless, will be aroused to keep 
eye and ear attent on whatever may be pass- 
ing, or whatever may be disclosed. When he 
is thus aware of the importance of observing, 
interested in observation, and desirous of en- 
larging these powers — this frame of mind per- 
sisted in, will gradually give him the habit 
which is only another name for discipline. 

It is necessary to impress the importance of 
this discipline upon the young man, because so 
many pass through life and find so little use 
for eye or ear when there is always something 
along our path which may interest and in- 
struct. 

It is observation — untiring in its vigilance — 
persistent in its office — that opens to us mat- 
ter of enquiry and investigation, and uncovers 
facts like those from whose deductions science 
has made mighty strides ; not only in the dis- 
cernible horizon, but in the heavens above 



68 Self-Development. 

and the earth beneath. It is to the patient, 
persevering observer that nature discloses her 
phenomena and reveals her laws. 

Observation has not only contributed vast 
stores to scientific lore, but it has opened to us 
a more enlarged vision of the Beautiful. Who 
can read Jeffries, or our Thoreau and Bur- 
roughs and not have noble envy of their acute 
and finished powers of observation? Doubt- 
less the result of long training, yet what vol- 
umes of reflection it made known to them, as 
it may make known to us ! As the alchemists 
of old are said to have transmuted baser metals 
into gold, so these alchemists of nature have 
taken bleak down or lonely wilderness and 
shown they are peopled with flowers and musi- 
cal with birds, the unobservant eye failed to 
perceive, and the unobservant ear failed to dis- 
tinguish. 

Let the young man, therefore, use his powers 
of perception ; let his capacity for observation 
be ceaselessly on the "qui vive." It will soon 
become a habit of unalloyed delight. Let him 
note aspects of nature as revealed in hill, in 
dale, mountain top and gorge — where wildest 
• — where the peaceful triumphs of toil. 

Let him note beast and bird and reptile — the 
tiniest creature — the lowliest flower. Let him 
turn to monuments of architectural skill — to 
the glories of the Old Masters as they seem 
ready to start out from the canvas; and let 
him note those forms in marble which combine 
"the grace of every model and the perfection 
of every master." Let him note clouds and 



The Perceptive Faculties. 69 

mists — rain and snow — the first leaf-buds of 
spring — the hues of autumn — the death of win- 
ter, yet enclosing in its mortal and visible 
parts, the buds and hope of spring's resurrec- 
tion. Let him be assured there is no disci- 
pline which has a greater tendency to enlarge 
his understanding, and which induces those 
reflections that shape themselves into prac- 
tical measures of utility, or which will gratify 
that love and reverence for the Beautiful which 
charms and sweetens existence. 



70 Self-Development. 



ESSAY SEVENTEEN. 

THE IMAGINATION. 

While other faculties of the mind require 
serious and aggressive discipline in order to 
bring out their power, the Imagination, like 
Minerva, from the brain of Jove, springs, full- 
fledged, into perfect being. It knows neither 
youth nor age. Unfriendly causes may impede 
its free movement, but cannot control or sub- 
due it. It was given to us for a beneficent 
purpose — to make glad the pathway of Hfe, 
that, otherwise would be rugged and barren 
of interest. It is to our daily walk what sun- 
shine is to the world. It gilds 

"pale streams with heavenly alchemy." 

To mountain top it adds to its exquisite haze, 
to the valley it gives more than its dreamy 
repose. 

It discovers beauty in every scene — and 
"beauty unadorned" is adorned by it. It 
smiles under the thatched roof of Poverty, and 
the bolt of the dungeon cannot bar it out. It 
is with us in every vicissitude of life, and age 
finds it unwearied in its ministrations to our 
pleasure. 



The Imagination. 7^ 

Yet how unimportant a feature is the culti- 
vation and direction of the Imagination in the 
curriculum of a college ! What youth may say 
he owed to a College Professor his awakening 
to the glories of the Imagination, and that the 
good influences of its culture could be traced to 
that source? 

As in many other contingencies, the youth, 
in this respect, must buckle on his armor of 
self-reliance and shape his own course. He 
will discover that of all children of the brain 
the Imagination is the most docile. It re- 
quires not so much discipline as direction ; it 
is not so much like the drill of the soldier for 
the conflict, as it may be compared to the 
training of the vine on the wall. 

It must be borne in mind by the aspiring 
youth that the cultivation of the Imagination 
through the medium of books, is only a cul- 
tivation at second hand. In books he reads the 
gloss and not the text, he studies a copy, not 
the original ; while many glosses are faithful 
chronicles, and many copies wonderful of 
themselves ; the text and the original are still 
more wonderful. Sculptor never equalled his 
model, nor painter ever given the glow of 
beauty's cheek before him. The grandeur of 
Shakespeare, the sublimity of Milton, have 
their sources in nature without and within us. 
Let the youth seek the fountain-head of their 
inspiration. Let him search nature and then 
turn to its interpretation by its great masters. 
He who would emulate Turner in his land- 



72 Self-Development. 

scapes, must look at the landscapes and then at 
the picture. 

Let the student seek nature and let him feel, 

"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, 
There is a rapture on the lonely shore" 

It is a novitiate in the great monastery of 
nature that fits him to enjoy the lessons of na- 
ture's great high priests. The vow of observa- 
tion performed — the probation over — he may 
learn of the Beautiful at the feet of Shake- 
speare, and in Wordsworth he will find a com- 
panion, 

" — wedded to this goodly universe . 
In love and holy passion." 

In the selection of such books as may serve 
to cultivate the Imagination, the student in his 
own mother-tongue, will find no dearth in vari- 
ety or number. It would be well to choose a 
few of the best, and "dare be ignorant" of the 
remainder. His time will not allow him to be 
familiar with many, nor is it indispensable. 
Withal he should remember that the tempta- 
tion is great, and sometimes overpowering to 
give an excess of time to creations of the 
Fancy, to the impairment of time that should 
be devoted to other purposes; so anxious is 
this faculty to entertain, and to be ever ready 
to please. 

It is idle to read what one does not assimi- 
late, or what does not interest, although what 



The Imagination. 73 

does not interest at one time may interest at 
another time. When I was sixteen I read sev- 
eral parts of Paradise Lost and gave it up, as 
it failed to interest. A few years later I read 
and re-read it with unadulterate delight. 

As to authors who have chosen this portion 
of letters, it may be observed no author has 
written uniformly well, as a rule, but the cus- 
tom of editors has been to throw pell-mell to- 
gether all that a distinguished author ever 
wrote, leaving the reader to select. When a 
novelist has written much, usually his early 
novels are the best, in my experience; Bulwer, 
however, is an exception ; his latest novels sur- 
pass his earlier productions. Dickens' power 
was better sustained to the end than most writ- 
ers. Scott's later novels are considered the 
least interesting. 

Shakespeare's best plays and sonnets should 
be studied. There is little of Milton, and per- 
haps less of Pope that should not permeate the 
imagination with their happy influences. 

Of the plays under the joint names of Beau- 
mont and Fletcher: 

The Maid's Tragedy, 

Philaster, 

The Humorous Lieutenant, 

Valentinian, 

The Knight of Malta, 

Thierry and Theodoret, 

The Honest Man's Fortune, 

The Two Noble Kinsmen, 
merit careful reading. They are replete with 
what are considered by many the obsolete 



74" Self-Development. 

ideas of a chivalric age — Honor, Courtesy, 
Dignity, — some of the mile-stones, 

"In the white way of virtue." 

Of the plays of Ben Jonson, 

Every Man in His Humor, 

Sejanus, His Fall, 

Volpone, 

Epicoene, 

The Alchemist, 

The Sad Shepherd, 
are worthy of attention. I think Sejanus is 
the best testimony to his classical attainments. 

All of Gray's poems should be read, and so 
of Shelley and Keats, Moore's Melodies, 
Burns, Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel, Mar- 
mion and Lady of the Lake. 

Wordsworth is instructive : many of his 
poems should not have been published, but if 
he had never written a line more than his "In- 
timations of Immortality," or his "Ode to 
Duty," either would have stamped him as a 
poet ; and it would be difficult to find one who 
out of simple lives and humble surroundings 
could draw so much cheerful philosophy and 
sweet content as he has done in "The Excur- 
sion." 

Among novelists, Scott, Bulwer, Dickens, 
and our own Cooper and Irving offer entertain- 
ing reading. Thackeray and "George Eliot" 
merit careful attention. Blackmore's "Lorna 
Doone," "The Maid of Sker" and "Cradock 
Nowell" are fine studies of creative fancy. 



The Imagination. 75 

These are simply suggestions taken from my 
own reading, and not intended to exclude other 
writers of merit, nor is it intended that much 
of the matter suggested should be read only 
once. The student as he becomes more and 
more interested in cultivating his imagination, 
will instinctively turn again and again to the 
choice portions of his readings ; and these in- 
dications may serve if he is ever at a loss to 
guide him to some of the elect spirits of the 
language, who have given "a local habitation 
and a name" to "airy nothings of the brain." 



76 Self-Development. 



ESSAY EIGHTEEN. 

THE MEMORY. 

In the acquisition of knowledge, as in the 
acquisition of money, it is not so much what 
we acquire, as what we are able to keep, that 
constitutes true gain. Memory, mother of 
the Muses, must be invoked and interested in 
the acquirement, or we fail in our purpose. 
Habit here, as in other contingencies, is dis- 
cipline ; and "I'habitude peut tout," as the Gaul 
hath it, must be our motto ; or, in our vernacu- 
lar, "Habit wins." 

To the youth who desires to have memory's 
faithful aid, the thought is full of hope that no 
faculty responds more readily to discipline, nor 
advances more rapidly. Still the discipline 
costs effort, and continued effort, if we would 
have its generous service and not its unreliable 
help. 

The means to effect this discipline will vary 
to some extent with the peculiarities of the in- 
dividual ; all methods, however, must converge 
to the point of retentiveness in order to serve. 

An idea must not only be conceived, but im- 
pressed upon the memory. The impression, 
usually, is faint or clear, according to the inter- 



The Memory. 77 

est we take in the idea. It is well to retain the 
idea in mind until its impress is distinct. In 
reading, for instance, not allow anxiety to 
cover much ground, outpace the interest which 
impresses each idea advanced. In the food we 
eat it is not the quantity used, but the quantity 
assimilated that sustains our bodily health ; so, 
in reading, it is not the pages read, but the 
ideas acquired that is of service. The man who 
has read a few books on a subject, and read 
them to advantage, is more formidable as an an- 
tagonist, than he who has read many books on 
the same subject, in a perfunctory manner. 
Hence the saying, "Beware of the man of few 
books." 

In a treatise on Education, written by me, 
there are the following paragraphs on the sub- 
ject: 

"When interest is thoroughly aroused, a 
study may be commenced. Interest fixes the 
attention, and when the attention is fixed and 
absorbed, memory acts up to the measure of its 
capacity." "When it is considered that all 
knowledge is almost, if not altogether, use- 
less to us, unless memory has made it part of 
us, spiritually; it becomes matter of profound 
and far-reaching concern that it should be 
thoroughly and efifectively disciplined. There 
are various methods suggested for doing so, 
but the natural is the most simple, and the 
more reasonable — create first the interest, fix 
the attention, and the memory will take care 
of itself." 

"The fixed attention necessary to success- 



78 Self-Development. 

ful exercise of the memory can be acquired 
only by patient and persistent effort. Con- 
stant practice is the royal road to it ; and labori- 
ously, step by step, must we advance; but the 
fatigue of the journey will be forgotten in the 
reward of a retentiveness of the memory, with- 
out which it is in vain to seek to increase our 
store of knowledge ; and in the further reward, 
induced by discipline of the memory, of that 
concentered attention, which is a grand char- 
acteristic, leading all others to the highest 
peaks of intellectual achievement." 

A subject may be well impressed upon the 
memory ; yet in many cases the imprint grad- 
ually fades. Hence students review a book or 
subject which they expect to use in order it 
may retain its pristine freshness in the mem- 
ory. Thorough reviewing, indeed, is indis- 
pensable to the complete acquisition of a sub- 
ject. Memory, as your lady-love, must have 
the curtesy of your attention ; if you manifest 
neglect, it is likely that when you expect her to 
smile upon you, she will repel you with a frown ! 

Let the young man keep in mind that inter- 
est is the very life of memory. Let him never 
begin a study save under the impetus of in- 
terest, as the engine starts with a full head of 
steam, and when interest flags, let him close 
the book; when the interest is thoroughly 
aroused and maintained, the memory is dis- 
tinctly impressed, is in its best condition, and 
the student should "strike while the iron is 
hot." 

Multifarious reading, such as is afforded by 



The Memory. 79 

the columns of a daily newspaper, impairs the 
memory, and should be indulged in sparingly; 
it is simply teasing the memory, or taxing it 
to no purpose to do more than skim over it — 
noting only matters of general or personal in- 
terest. The greater part of the monthly maga- 
zines really contain very little serviceable mat- 
ter. Even of useful matter, in ephemeral liter- 
ature, we do not avail ourselves of it as we 
should ; we do not attempt to arrange or classify 
it — to store it in our memocy in such order as 
to have it ready for use, when the occasion 
serves ; or file away interesting slips ; or note a 
subject treated in our Index Rerum as here- 
after explained, as aids to our memory; so as 
to refer to them when needed — all of which 
should be done by those who devote valuable 
time to this kind of reading in order to meet 
the truth of the proposition with which we set 
out — that it is not what we acquire but what 
we keep, which constitutes actual gain. 



8o Self-Development. 



ESSAY NINETEEN. 

THE WILL. 

The Faculties of the mind show design in 
their creation, whether we consider them apart 
or in their relation to each other ; not one may 
be spared without limiting the capacity of the 
mind to a certain extent ; not one may be 
strengthened but all participate in the addi- 
tional strength. 

In many natures a faculty is of such force 
that habit or discipline adds little to it, while 
in other natures continuous efforts are neces- 
sary to attain the habit that develops the 
strength. 

The man of innate strength of will notes 
what is to be performed, determines promptly 
the manner of performance, gives his energy 
to the achievement, and success usually crowns 
his endeavor. The man of feeble will in not- 
ing what is to be done, doubts and hesitates as 
to the manner, and begins his undertaking in 
the in different way that forebodes failure. In 
one case nature seems to have given the well- 
conditioned will, in the other it is feeble, and 
must be strengthened by discipline. 

Can it be disciplined? Mankind commonly 



The Will. 8 1 

use the will in its untrained state, without 
thought of attempting its discipline in view of 
adding to its power. 

But the moral faculty may be disciplined, so 
of the reasoning power, the memory and the 
perceptions ; therefore, it appears reasonable 
in the light of analogy, this power was not 
created different from others, and may be dis- 
ciplined as well as other faculties. 

Let us analyse the will-power, and note 
whether there is any impediment to its culture 
and improvement. 

The will-power in its usual exercise unfolds 
three stages on its way to successful effort. 
I. — An incentive to exertion. 
II. — Decision on the manner of exertion. 

III. — Energy in carrying out the decision. 
The will-power may be improved by the selec- 
tion of a proper incentive to exertion ; and 
there is a choice of many, varying from the 
sordid to the exalted. It will materially 
strengthen the will-power to choose the ele- 
vated and to keep our vision upon it, as the 
Israelites the cloud by day, and the fire by 
night; and Duty is the grand incentive. It is 
our duty to use each and all our faculties to 
the greatest advantage. Our moral nature, 
speaking through conscience, demands it in the 
imperative and commanding tone that cannot 
pass unheeded. 

Conscience not only tells us our duty under 
ordinary circumstances, but in all doubt, de- 
cides ; in our sluggishness, it arouses; and in 
our faint-heartedness cheers and inspires. 



82 Self-Development. 

Decision is the next characteristic of proper 
will-'power, and how many of us lack it ! Lack 
it to our sorrow ! We doubt — hesitate — decide 
— then doubt the decision — again hesitate, and 
in this wise move in a circle, which has neither 
beginning nor end, and indecision and delay 
soon merge into habit. 

Indecision is simply the result of neglect to 
weigh in our minds all questionable matter as 
soon as presented, note carefully the points in 
favor of or against one view, and the points in 
favor of or against another view; determine 
which preponderates, and act promptly on the 
determination. There is no impediment to 
this process, and discipline will encompass it. 

It may be said that the vacillating purpose 
which gives rise to indecision is really the ef- 
fect of a feeble will-power — so it is — but every 
surrender to such a power is a cause of further 
weakness, as resistance diminishes with each 
recession. On the other hand it is encourag- 
ing to know that if we have canvassed debat- 
able matter and reached a conclusion which 
we adopt, and act upon without further re- 
flection, each decision so made advances us in 
strengthening our will-power and tends to 
subdue indecision. 

Energy in carrying out a decision is the next 
step in the exercise of the will-power, and here 
training is no light task. Energy is greatly a 
matter of constitutional temperament. 

To see an indolent man really active has an 
element of unfamiliarity about it, and we await 
the result with solicitu4e, All men are ener- 



The Will. 83 

getic occasionally, as when the dwelling is on 
fire, or the cattle in the corn; if they are not 
energetic at other times it is because they have 
no incentive in view sufificient to compel de- 
cision and enforce activity. Give the incentive 
and you obtain the result. In this manner en- 
ergy may be strengthened through the medium 
of an incentive to exertion, and there is no in- 
centive that has wrought such wonders as 
Duty. Elevate the moral nature to a high con- 
ception of Duty, and it will call out all the energy 
of our nature. 

Energy may be strengthened by creating an 
interest in any project we undertake: if, for 
instance, we wish to read a book ; let us first 
get up a lively interest in it, and let our atten- 
tion be fixed and absorbed in the subject before 
we read a page. 

In fine we may discipline our energy by do- 
ing nothing indifferently, be it in great things 
or small. If we note the energetic man we 
shall see that he rarely does a single act of the 
slightest consequence in a perfunctory man- 
ner. He moves briskly, thinks actively — takes 
in a situation at a glance — determines promptly 
and fearful "the flighty purpose" may not be 
overtaken, 

" — unless the deed go with it,** 

links purpose and deed in bonds that cannot be 
dissolved. 

It will be seen, therefore, that in these vari- 
ous stages of development the will may be im- 



84 Self-Development. 

proved, and that it is feasible to look beyond 
its natural tendency, note these stages, and 
discipline it to its utmost capacity. 

It may be urged — how strengthen the will 
by its exercise, when perhaps the will-power 
is too feeble to start and keep up the exercise? 

It cannot be doubted that there are many 
feeble souls who have not the force of character 
to exercise the will when the occasion solicits 
— these "letting I dare not wait upon I would" 
accomplish little for themselves, less for 
others. But the average individual has gener- 
ally ample will-power to achieve whatever de- 
sign embodies the interest of his heart, and the 
earnestness of his nature, if he will only 
maintain it in proper condition, and strengthen 
it as far as he is really able. Arouse the in- 
terest thoroughly in any pursuit sanctioned by 
Duty: the will — an ever faithful ally — becomes 
infected with "the strong contagion" of the inter- 
est, and requires only proper discipline and su- 
pervision to execute whatever has been conceived. 



Reflection and Reasoning. 85 



ESSAY TWENTY. 

REFLECTION AND REASONING. 

The term reflection is usually applied to 
thoughts in which the reasoning power is not 
involved, such as thoughts on our past Ufe: 
when a thought takes in matter susceptible of 
debate, the reasoning power is invoked to note 
each opposing point, and to decide. It is be- 
cause there are many instances in which we 
may be called upon simply to reflect, and not 
to reason, that the distinction is made between 
reflection and reasoning; it is well, therefore, 
to remember the distinction ; as reflection, 
whenever it is sufficient, is a readier and more 
simple process than reasoning, to reach the 
conclusions necessary to be made from time to 
time in our interior life. 

There are two phases of reflection to which 
the youth's attention is invited. 

I. — The reflection that should come after 
and be linked to observation. 

11. — The reflection which should precede 
the determination to perform an act, whose 
consequences would materially aflFect us. 

I. — In the chapter on the Perceptive Facul- 
ties I have written of the uses of observation : 



L 



/ 



86 Self-Development. 

it is when observation is succeeded by reflec- 
tion, and moulded into serviceable thought, 
that its high office is shown in its true light; for 
instance, the observation of the phenomena of 
nature is naught of itself; it is only when we 
apply reflection to it, that nature's mystery is 
unfolded, and its law disclosed. 

11. — As to the reflection which should pre- 
cede the determination to commit or perform 
a consequential act, it is of the essential char- 
acter that experience spontaneously seeks its 
aid; as the man who acts without reflection, 
and the fool are synonymous terms. Man- 
kind are aware of this ill conclusion, and many 
in good faith seek to avoid it ; the difficulty is, 
they do not go far enough ; they reflect in 
many cases ; in some cases they forego reflec- 
tion through negligence; in other contingen- 
cies they will not reflect through passion or 
folly — all for lack of that discipline, hard to 
be acquired, yet worthy of our best efforts — 
to allow reflection — calm, dispassionate, and 
heedful of consequences, to precede every act 
without exception, as sponsor for its propriety, 
and as a valid commission for its execution. I 
am aware this discipline is inseparable from 
human infirmity, but the thought is full of 
blessed hope and assurance, that the more we 
act upon proper reflection, the nearer the 
Actual will approach the Ideal. 

The art of reasoning or logic has been fitly 
called the science of sciences ; it is not only a 
necessity in the sciences, but it is of constant 
use in all human affairs, in order to properly 



Reflection and Reasoning. 87 

decide all debatable matter in our daily lives. 

In the discipline of the various faculties, 
there is no branch in which progress depends 
so entirely upon the student himself, as m the 
cultivation of the reasoning faculty ; and, be it 
said to the nobly ambitious, there is no other 
in which intellectual triumph is more com- 
plete or more enduring. 

As the student may not wish to go mto all 
the learning of treatises on logic, and, indeed it 
is not desirable; still he can extract from them 
the fundamental rules of reasoning, and the 
principles upon which they are founded. 

Let the youth search out these rules, study 
them thoroughly, apply them to feigned issues, 
as well as to all practical questions that may 
arise in his daily occupation. Let him note 
examples of skilful and incontrovertible argu- 
ment within the forum of debate. Let him 
learn to detect fallacies in his own reasoning, 
or the reasoning of others. Let him devote 
himself to the study with all his heart, and 
with a full determination to handle its weapons 
with the hand of a master. 

There is no better training of the reasonmg 
powers than the discipline of debate. If the 
student has not opportunities he should make 
them. In debate his defeats will be a lesson, 
and his victories will cheer and encourage. 

Men who possess what is called common 
sense, have a logical turn of mind which is 
nothing more than an endeavor to take cor- 
rect views of all questionable matter. A man 
of common sense will distinguish between as- 



88 Self-Development. 

sumption and fact; between an admitted prop- 
osition and a proposition which may be debatable. 
He does not allow one proposition to be joined to 
another without there is a proper and necessary 
connection ; nor does he allow a certain num- 
ber of propositions or facts to form a conclu- 
sion unless they inevitably lead to it, and to 
no other. 

If we take a common occurrence of every- 
day life, and note the reasoning of the mass 
of mankind upon it, we will find usually that 
they allow prejudice or sentiment to influence 
reason ; or they will take a partial view of the 
matter by leaving out some of the elements 
which belong to it, and are necessary to reach 
a right decision ; or they will include elements 
which do not belong to it; or they will join 
one element to another with which it has no 
connection ; and by one or the other, or all 
these means deduce a consequence which is 
erroneous or absurd. 

These hints may serve as to the course to 
be pursued in order to discipline the reason- 
ing faculty, and reach a proper conclusion 
upon all controverted matter which may be 
necessary for us to determine. 

Forensic display is the best illustration of 
practical logic. Here the slightest deviation 
from correct reasoning, is detected by a wary 
adversary, or exposed by the Judge. 

There is no "royal road" to logic, but there 
is no mystery about it, as learned professors 
would have us believe; there is nothing in- 
tangible or uncertain in its progressive cours' 



Reflection and Reasoning. 89 

It is as true, as certain, as inexorable in its 
principles, in its procession, and in its conclu- 
sion as a problem of Euclid, which is, in fact, 
only an illustration of logic. Patient reflec- 
tion, proper analytic power, careful proceeding 
will reach a proper result. Its rules are 
founded upon common sense, and any one ot 
average understanding, with proper discipline, 
can learn to apply them skilfully and effectually, 
particularly in the ordinary affairs of life; be- 
cause ordinary affairs are usually composed of 
simple elements ; and do not involve an array of 
facts, or a number of propositions, and do not re- 
quire more than an ordinary power of analysis 
to be resolved into their component parts, or 
to be marshalled in order from premises to 
conclusion. 

I have said it was not desirable the student 
should go into all the learning of treatises on 
logic, because I believe those who have writ- 
ten on the subject have rather obscured it 
than otherwise; but the student may select 
the fundamental rules from much extraneous 
matter, and these rules he must understand, he 
must know the principles upon which they 
are based ; so that the study be thorough, and 
the subject matter completely assimilated. 

Let the sciolist beware of logic, a study 
short of a thorough study may leave a weak 
point in an argument, as quickly perceived by 
a skilful adversary, as Hood perceived the gap 
in the Federal lines at Chickamauga. 



9d Self-Development. 



ESSAY TWENTY-ONE. 

METHOD. 

The subject of method already has been 
mentioned. It is referred to now in a more 
distinct and direct manner; because it is not 
only a necessity in the disposition of our time, 
but it tends to diminish the cares that are con- 
tinually thrusting themselves between us and 
our mental labors, and disturbing the serene 
atmosphere which invites and nourishes study 
and meditation. 

I am aware the very name of method is re- 
pellent to many. Nevertheless, in the orderly 
disposition of time, and in the methodical ar- 
rangement of books, papers and appliances, 
lies the secret of despatch. 

A busy man without method in his affairs 
regrets the lack of it, and sometimes seeks to 
supply the deficiency. The sagacious man 
perceives hi§ want of it, and undertakes at 
once the discipline that meets the emergency. 

The discipline involved does not require 
strenuous exertion. Tt is of a passive rather 
than of an active nature. It is simply to en- 
large the thoughtfulness we bring to our 
•studies ; to make our thoughtfulness better ac- 



Method. 91 

quainted with, and act more in sympathy with 
our daily life; not only in its great, but in its 
little ways, and in its small, but not unim- 
portant acts and affairs. 

Some busy men are forced to be methodical 
of time. Eminent physicians of great cities 
must use their hours, not only with thrift but 
method; otherwise they could not discharge 
their duties of the day. 

In the seclusion of our library, method 
speaks for itself; how much time is often lost, 
and anxiety roused, in looking for a book or 
paper out of place. 

In the arrangement of books, papers and 
appliances, the first need is to have a place 
set apart exclusively for all things of the same 
character, with such subdivisions as may be 
necessary, as a place for pamphlets, letters, 
etc. Simple as the suggestion appears many 
busy men have not taken the trouble to have 
places set apart in this manner and for this 
purpose. 

There is no mystery about acquiring the 
habit of having every thing in its place; "a 
place for every thing and every thing in its 
place," is a stale old saw, but a labor and 
worry-saving device. The wise student will 
class method among those lesser duties, which 
render substantial aid to the more weighty. 

A student — his attention fixed — absorbed in 
writing — suddenly must refer to a paper in his 
desk; he turns over a disorderly mass of 
papers, but does not find it — and looks else- 
where in vain ; after spending considerable 



92 Self-Development. 

time in the search, he resumes, or attempts to 
resume his writing; but his attention has been 
distracted, his mind is overcast by the per- 
plexing query, "Where could I have put that 
paper?" How different from an orderly stu- 
dent, under similar circumstances, who can lay 
his hand on any paper in a moment, without a 
relaxation of interest, or a disturbance of his 
unruffled calm. 

Thoughtfulness should precede every act of 
life. Why reject its happy influence whenever 
needed? Why revolt against its beneficent 
sway? Thoughtfulness is the motive power of 
method. It is as steam to the engine; the 
student holds the lever in his own hands, and 
under plenary power. 

There is method in all the operations of na- 
ture. The tides of the ocean evince method. 
The seasons have a method. The acorn has a 
method in producing the oak which, in turn, 
has a method in reproducing the acorn. The 
apple follows the blossom, and the rose the 
bud, in orderly succession. How can men 
read these lessons, and not feel that order is 
not only "Heaven's first law," but a law on 
earth ! 



The Economy of Time. 93 



ESSAY TWENTY-TWO. 

THE ECONOMY OF TIME. 

The Banker's capital is money; the Farm- 
er's, land; the Student's, time; each must go 
through a probation of discipline, in order to 
acquire the knowledge of using his capital 
properly and thriftily. 

The Banker who wastes his money; the 
Farmer who leaves his land untilled ; the 
Student who dissipates his time ; — all will soon 
be classed among the unsuccessful. 

Of what profit is thorough culture, and the 
acquisition of knowledge; if we allow the 
hours to pass in idleness, or devote them to 
trivialness or unwise pursuits? 

It would be well for the student, at an early 
stage of his novitiate, to ponder on, and fix in 
his mind the importance of Economy of Time. 
It is possible that in the self-communings of 
evening reviews, he may discover that during 
the day he has lost many moments in one idle 
way or another, which might have been better 
employed. The reviews are helpful for the 
purpose, and may stir and provoke him to fur- 
ther effort to mend his ways. 

As a merchant, with capital at command, is 



94 Self-Development. 

able to make ventures which otherwise he 
must forego; in like manner the student, with 
the capital of time at his command, may do 
much which otherwise he dare not attempt; 
and as the field open to intellectual labor is 
nigh boundless, it is a fair inference that the 
more time at our disposal, the more labor we 
may perform. 

The discipline required to attain a proper 
economy of Time varies to a certain extent, 
from other kinds of discipline. It requires a 
vigilance that never slumbers. Even when we 
seem to have merged it into habit, we are still 
often tempted to waive the habit, by enemies 
without and within. 

Without, — from all those interruptions by 
others, — too familiar to students — many of 
which do not involve a duty, therefore, may be 
disposed of summarily. 

Within. Ah! Here our enemies are in 
strength, and we must meet them with all the 
forces we can mass. It is not so much the 
time that others take from us ; as the time we 
take and devote to vain pursuits, that consti- 
tutes the bulk of time lost forever. 

In the dark catalogue of the causes of 
squandered time, and the subjects which oc- 
cupy misused time, may be found the follow- 
ing: 

Procrastination, 

Idle Colloquy, 

Amusements which do not recreate. 

Recreations arousing mental excitement, un- 
favorable to study. 



The Economy of Time. 95 

Acquisition of a smattering of the Sciences. 

Attainment of a superficial knowledge of 
effete languages. 

Attempting to pursue studies without first 
arousing interest, or continuing in their pur- 
suit after interest has ceased. 

Pursuing studies that are curious, and com- 
manding interest, more or less, but of no prac- 
tical application whatever. 

Pursuing special studies adapted only to a 
special career, we do not expect to follow. 

A cheerless array of the enemies of Time! 
and these are not all that are ready to beset 
the student, if they are not already disputing 
his advance. Let him single out those that 
already annoy him, and smite them with an un- 
sparing hand. They will fall before an in- 
domitable will, as grass before the scythe of 
the mower. 

When he has in this wise subdued the ene- 
mies of his time he has also conquered him- 
self; the way is unobstructed, and he is pre- 
pared for any achievement within the scope of 
his powers. 

The student can have no greater incentive 
to Economy of Time, than the reflection that 
Life has its limitations ; and that, of the 
twenty-four hours of the day, there are few 
hours he may call his own ; after deducting the 
time lost by mental or bodily indisposition, or 
given to sleep, repasts, recreation and social 
duties. The latter necessities must have their 
honest dues paid in full, promptly, in spirit, 
and to the letter, but not overpaid. When the 



g6 Self-Development. 

student has faithfully discharged these obliga- 
tions, he may in justice to himself claim the 
remainder of the cycle. When he looks upon 
the little' time left to him, I feel assured he will 
prize it too much to waste it in useless studies, 
or idle pursuits. The discipline required to 
bring about this consummation cannot be ac- 
quired, save by a determined will. Even 
when discipline is merged into habit, as al- 
ready stated, it still requires watchfulness; 
but the splendid results deserve his noblest 
efforts ; and "the rose and expectancy of the 
fair state" must not allow his glorious hope 
and promise, to dwindle to the ignominy of 
feeble and unworthy performance. 



Thrift. 97 



ESSAY TWENTY-THREE. 

THRIFT. 

To the youth full or ardor and eager to 
advance and achieve, it seems a forbidding 
task to suggest there are many little things, 
apparently despicable in view of his aspira- 
tions ; which, however, will embarrass him in his 
career; if he declines to give them proper at- 
tention, or derides their power to harm. 

Among these little things is the judicious 
use of his income, whether limited or not. He 
should give to this matter the prompt and 
thoughtful attention a business man gives to 
his affairs. He should manage his finances 

"With judgment wise to spend or spare." 

There are many who have a vague desir^ to 
economize, but spare where they should spend, 
and spend where they should spare. It is not 
economy to deprive ourselves of sufficient 
nourishing food, or suitable clothing. It is not 
extravagance to follow the advice of Polonius 
to Laertes : 

"Costly thy habit, as thy purse can buy.*' 



98 Self -Development. 

Many confound economy and meanness ; but 
noble and unselfish natures may economize 
under a praiseworthy effort to live independ- 
ently within their income ; and not live depend- 
ently on the means of others, by going in debt. 
This unselfish class have something always to 
spare for the needy. It is only the selfish 
man who is mean in his economy; his benevo- 
lence begins and ends with himself. He has 
more needs than the neediest; his sordid views 
should never be confused with the aim of 
those who know when to spend, and when to 
spare. 

If the student wishes an incentive in the 
proper management of his income, let him 
class the matter where it really belongs, under 
the head of Duty. Though it may be a duty 
of a lesser degree, it is obligatory, and that is 
all he need to know ; as an order from a su- 
perior officer to a subaltern, it must be obeyed 
promptly, and without question. This duty, 
however, is not inconsequent. Its practice 
evolves the grand virtue of self-denial ; as it 
is fair to assume the means of the student are 
limited, and that he must forego many wants. 

Judicious management of an income will 
vary with circumstance. In the beginning of 
a fiscal year the student can look forward 
twelve months, note his income for the time, 
and decide upon his necessities for the period. 
If he discovers his wants exceed his income, 
let him forego the less important and artificial, 
and confine them strictly within his income ; 
Otherwise he must go in debt; and that is 



Thrift. 99 

bartering manly independence for a mess of 
pottage, and is a subterfuge of the weak and 
shiftless. 

We are often discontented, because we are con- 
tinually adding to our wants, until they outrun 
our income. The thoughtful student will pur- 
sue a contrary course ; he will seek to diminish 
his wants, and dispense with a supposed want, 
whenever he can do so, without lessening his 
comforts, or surrendering a noble desire. 

These suggestions will have accomplished 
their purpose if they lead the student to re- 
flection on the subject matter; and induce him 
to form a plan of his own for the management 
of his income, suitable to his circumstances, 
and to his peculiar needs. 

As the exquisite odor of the violet comes 
from the lowliest flower of the glen ; so the 
lofty virtue of self-denial may arise, like per- 
fume, from the humble spot of a student's 
home; a self-denial begun with the manage- 
ment of a modicum, which became a habit in 
middle hfe; and which age crowns with simple 
tastes, that may be gratified without money, 
and indulged in harmlessly without limit ; in 
an abode where Content and Poverty dwell in 
harmony. 



100 Self-Development. 



ESSAY TWENTY-FOUR. 

ON STYLE IN SPEECH AND WRITING. 

There is to me ineffable delight in the 
beauty of a proper delivery of speech ; and its 
sequence of graceful emanations of the pen. I 
am solicitous the student should possess the 
art, in as high degree as possible. I trust he 
will learn to look upon speech, as a grand 
heritage, worthy of thorough tillage; and 
which will yield a rich and bounteous harvest. 

The triumph of speech lies in a distinct 
enunciation, a modulated tone, and cultivated 
language. The triumph of the pen lies in a 
style — clear, concise and chaste — simply a re- 
flex of utterance. Lo ! the prize, and the pa- 
tient and resolute shall winr! 

The discipline of the Faculties is for the pur- 
pose of preparing us to acquire knowledge. 

The acquisition of knowledge, in the main, 
should be for the purpose of imparting it. 

Knowledge must be imparted in a manner 
to impress, in order to be serviceable. 

It is more likely to be impressed, if set 
forth, not only clearly, but in choice language. 

Therefore, to have a style, not only clear, 
but in choice language, is the more effective 
form of speech or writing. 



On Style In Speech and Writing. loi 

These considerations should be sufficient to 
impel the student to form a style of speech 
and writing, which would embody these char- 
acteristics. 

Choice language is more to the student than 
an elegant accomplishment ; it is an imperious 
necessity, if he desires to use his acquisitions 
of knowledge to the utmost advantage. 

The proper way to acquire style in writing, 
is to practice style in speaking. Let the stu- 
dent not only enunciate distinctly, and modu- 
late his voice properly, but let him learn to 
frame a sentence rapidly, correctly, and in 
choice words, before it is uttered. This will 
require deliberation, more, perhaps, than is al- 
lowed in conversation : but the hesitancy will 
grow less and less, until it will not be ob- 
served. I commend the practice to him, and 
that he begin it with a determination to have 
from it the best result ; it will require pluck 
and persistence, but it may be done ; and when 
he scores a victory, he has acquired not only 
a useful art, but a polished and graceful at- 
tainment. 

When the habit is acquired, in this wise, of 
forming a sentence rapidly, correctly, and in 
choice words, before it is spoken, it is not 
more difficult to write, than to utter it : so 
that, framing a sentence in this manner, ac- 
complishes the double object of speaking and 
writing with clearness and elegance. 

Many educated men form a habit of speak- 
ing in an indifferent or inexact manner; hence 
they write in the same fashion. If they at- 



102 Self-Development. 

tempt to write properly, this indifferent manner 
will reveal itself sooner or later. Like the 
sloven, who seeks occasionally to dress neatly; 
his careless ways will obtrude at one point or 
another. 

There is, perhaps, this distinction between 
speaking and writing. It may be pardonable 
in speaking to be occasionally incorrect ; but it 
is not pardonable in writing; because one has 
usually an opportunity to read what one has 
written. 

If the student would determine that every 
paragraph he writes, even in his journal or in 
a note to a friend, shall be written with care, 
and in the choicest language at his command, 
he will soon find the practice pleasant, the 
labor lighter and lighter, and that his style is 
gradually growing better. He may have to 
write over many times a simple note to a 
neighbor before he is satisfied with its cor- 
rectness and language, as I have often done. 
It has always been a matter of pride with me 
to make even such a note as nearly proper as 
I was able to write it. 

Some students think it well to take a single 
author noted for his style, and endeavor to 
imitate it. It is not entirely objectionable to 
do so, particularly if the author has a simple 
style; although in this wise one is apt to imi- 
tate defects, rather than follow merits. The 
judicious method seems to become familiar 
with our best writers. In that free intercourse 
the student, doubtless, will be able to form a 
style of his own. 



On Style in Speech and Writing. 103 

Let him turn to the home-like Saxon of 
Bunyan, or Swift ; to the gracefulness of Addi- 
son or our own Irving; to the terrible denun- 
ciations of Junius ; the stately and unexcelled 
periods of Dr. Johnson ; the smooth flowing 
paragraphs of De Quincey, or the splendid dic- 
tion of Macaulay. His familiarity with some 
or all of these, or writers of equal merit, will 
enable him to form a style fitted to his intel- 
lectual life, and as if, 

" — to the manner horn." 

There can be no higher eulogium of style in 
writing than the fact that its effects are felt 
long after the subject matter is forgotten, or 
ceases to interest. The invectives of Junius 
are sought by scholars for their style, while 
slight heed is paid to the political strife in 
which they originated. 

What dress is to the man, style is to the 
writer. We pay respectful attention when we 
encounter one who seems, by his dress, to be 
a gentleman. We pay less heed, or are in- 
different to one who seems by his dress to be 
a vagabond. In like manner we are eager to 
read whatever is clearly and beautifully writ- 
ten. We yawn over a book in which the sub- 
ject-matter is treated turbidly and ungrace- 
fully. 

Style, like apparel, should be, 

" — rich, not gaudy f* 



ro4 Self-Development. 

and let it be remembered that, as in the orders 
of architecture, there is Doric simpHcity, as 
well as Corinthian splendor; so, in writing, 
there is the grand diction of Macaulay, and 
there is also the Doric simplicity of Bunyan. 
Either is effective. On my own part, I should 
be content to approach the style of the "Pil- 
grim's Progress." Its unadulterate S9.xon al- 
ways had a peculiar charm to me. 

After that excellence in style is acquired, 
which waits upon patient labor, there is no 
height the student may not aspire to. He 
may sit before a desk in his solitary chamber — • 
pen in hand — ''mightier than the sword" and 
like an editor of the London Times, dictate 
peace or war; announce to great states their 
responsibilities and correlative duties ; de- 
nounce tyranny, and wrong, although emanat- 
ing from crowned heads, or imperial combi- 
nations; and declare to governments and all 
aggregations of men, they must move on the 
lines of right, justice, mercy, and a high civili- 
zation. 



Reading. 105 



ESSAY TWENTY-FIVE. 

READING. 

To the appreciative soul there is much in 
life to comfort and cheer. Poor blind crea- 
tures as we are, we do not see it. There is 
beauty in every aspect of nature we do not 
know. There is music in the air we do not 
hear. Fancy's wealth, more precious than 
argosies freighted with silver and gold, is 
lavished upon us, yet we cornf)lain of our 
poverty. All nature ministers to our delight, 
and in our libraries, the sages, heroes and poets 
of the earth await our coming, and tender their 
companionship. What more could we possi- 
bly desire? 

A famous author never entered his librar\' 
without being in full dress; doubtless, he 
looked upon it as a feast to which he was 
called, and he considered it proper to have ap- 
parel suitable to the occasion, and which would 
show due courtesy to the assembled guests, it 
was his privilege to meet. 

It seems to me he entered the library in a 
becoming spirit, was prepared to be enter- 
tained, and that he would value the entertain- 
ment. 

If books are not sentient beings, yet in their 



io6 Self-Development. 

passiveness, they speak. They decline the 
company of the idle ; show scant civility to the 
sciolist ; but to those that seek them with loyal 
hearts, they yield treasures more precious than 
rubies. They unbar the portals of science, re- 
vealing its rich stores, which may be used 
without stint ; they give the Poetry, which is a 
reflex of all beauty in nature or art; they 
give the Divine Philosophy which will safely 
carry us over dark and troubled waters, into a 
haven of peace and rest. 

Gentle Student ! If you would have a 
friend — true as the Toledo blade — faithful as 
the Marys at the tomb — make a friend of your 
books. The student will ever keep in mind 
that one of the important objects to be at- 
tained during his novitiate, is the cultivation 
of those tastes, and the formation of those 
habits which result in a love of learning. The 
love of learning, which is the fascination of 
early life, the delight of manhood, the tran- 
quil pleasure of age. A love of learning which 
does not unfit us for the more serious duties 
of life, but aids us to fulfil them cheerfully. 
A love of learning which does not allow us to 
linger on that low plane of intellectual life, 
where reading simply for amusement is a pre- 
dominant feature, but a love that continually 
inspires us to mount higher and higher in the 
scale of Being. 

There is so much of good reading matter 
tendered to the student in excess of what he 
can possibly read in a life time, it is indispens- 
able before he ventures his time for such a 



Reading. 107 

purpose, that he should detennine what he 
really needs; just as he must know what he 
wants, when going into a shop where goods 
are sold, in order to make a purchase. 

The student at first may have only a limited 
conception of what would be proper reading; 
and his first selection would correspond with 
his crude views; but he could add to the selec- 
tion from time to time, as his judgment ap- 
proached ripeness, or his experience dictates. 

In a subsequent essay I have suggested a 
course of general reading and studies, as an 
illustration to enable the student to frame 
proper reading, as well as study for himself. 
Now, if the student will adopt a course of this 
character, and have his reading, as well as his 
studies, conform to it, he will derive more ad- 
vantage from it, than from indiscriminate, des- 
ultory reading, so common and so often un- 
profitable. To keep up our comparison — the 
desultory reader may be likened to one going 
into a shop, not knowing what he needs, and 
buying the first article offered to him, whether 
he needs it or not. 

The reading matter adopted by the student 
would embrace one or more subjects; and 
probably each subject would be treated by sev- 
eral authors independently of each other. Of 
course the student will not fail to ascertain by 
whom the subject is best treated. 

If the student does not ascertain the best 
author on a subject he wishes to investigate, 
and meets with a book that appears proper for 
the purpose; let him note the publishing house 



io8 Self-Development. 

whence it issued. While this is not a criterion, 
it is a circumstance in its favor, if from a well- 
known and reputable house. Let him note the 
preface and remark in what manner the author 
makes his bow to the public, and his apology for 
inflicting another book on a book-ridden com- 
munity. Let him then examine the table of con- 
tents, where the critical eye may determine to go 
no further ; or, if the reader is willing to give 
the author another trial, let him select a single 
chapter, and note how the subject matter is 
treated. 

It seems to me that a book, even of fiction, 
should be read, if at all, carefully and thought- 
fully, if one desires to be compensated for the 
time employed. If a reader is disposed to hasten 
through a book, it were better he closed it al- 
together. If he does not pause at every para- 
graph, in which some idea is uttered, he should 
endeavor to impress on his mind, he is probably 
losing his time, as well as the idea. 

Marginal marks are useful, especially in re- 
viewing a subject. As it is possible the student 
may not be familiar with them, I will state they 
are marks on the margin of the pages of a book, 
made by the reader, opposite a paragraph, de- 
noting its measure of importance. Any system of 
marks may be adopted by the student for the 
purpose, and any meaning may be inferred from 
them, which he chooses to allow. 

Those I have used are as follows : 

X. — This mark opposite a paragraph, denotes 
an elemental truth or principle, or matter of spe- 
cial interest or importance. 



Reading. 109 

S. — This, to show matter of general impor- 
tance. 

Paragraphs marked X and S should be read in 
reviewing. 

=. — This, to show matter germane to the sub- 
ject, which, however, may be omitted in review- 
ing. 

N. — Denotes superfluous matter. 

V. — This, to denote an iUustration of the sub- 
ject matter. The crowning effort to impress the 
memory with what we read is thorough review- 
ing; not only just after the reading is completed; 
but at such subsequent times, as may be needed 
to refresh the student's memory on the subject. 

Bibliography, or a knowledge of books in re- 
gard to their authors, subjects and editions, is a 
valuable acquisition, and should have attention 
from the beginning. It happens frequently that a 
subject of interest arises which one desires to in- 
vestigate, and the first thought that occurs, is 
"Where shall I find the best treatise on it?" : hence 
it is well to remember the main contents of such 
books as we may handle, and to whose subjects 
we may expect to refer ; this exercise will soon 
grow into a habit whereby one will, in time, ac- 
cumulate much useful knowledge ; and acquire 
the art of knowing where to look for information 
on a subject, which all students are aware is in- 
valuable. 

The Index Reruni or Index of subjects, in 
common use among students, is as valuable to 
them, as a ledger to a merchant. The student 
fearing lest his memory may fail him, indexes in 
a book alphabetically arranged for the purpose, 



no Self-Development. 

any subject brought to his attention, to which he 
may expect to refer, and notes where it is treated, 
or what author has written the best treatise on 
the subject. 

For instance, I wish to refer to an article on 
the production of gold written many years ago : 
all I recollect is, that it came out in Blackwood 
between the years 1855 and i860. Now it would 
take some time to' look over the contents of the 
various volumes issued between those years, in 
order to find it. I turn to my Index Rerum, un- 
der the letters "Go" and find : 

Gold, fall in value, review of Chevalier's work, 
Blackwood's Mag., Vol. 85, p. 441. 

The Index Rerum may serve other purposes. 
There is much valuable matter, of more than 
epher-.eral interest in the newspapers of the day, 
whi>h, if catalogued and filed away, so as to be 
readily referred to, would be of future service. 
I have been in the habit of clipping such matter, 
and putting it under an appropriate head in a 
common letter file, with movable leaves, alpha- 
betically arranged, and noting the volume of the 
file, and the head under which it was placed, in 
the Index Rerum. 

A few years since, a lady, educated abroad and 
familiar with the writings of the present genera- 
tion of French novelists, gave me a list of their 
best works, which I copied in the Index Rerum 
under the head of "Bibliography" and sub-head 
of "French Fiction." 

As the student advances in his reading, he will 
frequently remark the different ways in which 
various authors treat the same subject. Sciolists 



Reading. 1 1 1 

often obscure with a cloud, what a philosophic 
mind makes luminous as day, and he will accord- 
ingly note in the Index Rerum, not only where a 
subject is treated, but where best treated. 

These illustrations serve to show the use of an 
Index Rerum, and the necessity of using the 
method or some similar method, as the card cata- 
logue, in order to make our reading available 
when the occasion serves. 

I have referred to the Card Catalogue system 
of indexing. It came into use after I had adopted 
and became habituated to the Index Rerum, as 
above noted. The general use, at present, of the 
Card Catalogue, is the best commentary on its 
invaluable service ; and the student would do well 
to study the system and adopt it. 

If the student is desirous of entertaining a few 
friends or the public, occasionally, let him learn 
to read aloud. It is an elegant accomplishment, 
and rare as elegant. I have heard the service of 
the Church of England read by, perhaps, a hun- 
dred different clergymen. I never heard it read 
well, save by one. 

As the years roll by, the student will find his 
books more and more a necessity, dear, soul- 
soothing companions, when, perhaps, all his loved 
ones in the flesh, have passed away ; and he turns 
to them for comfort. In their genial intercourse 
and happy influence, the ills of life are lessened, 
the joy and content increased, and the mortal 
seems to have put on immortality, for it dwells 
among the Immortals. 



Ill Self-Development. 



ESSAY TWENTY-SIX. 

STUDY. 

It will be noted that subjects which may be 
embraced in a treatise of this character, run, as 
it were, into each other. It is because they are 
parts of a whole — members of a body, — these 
parts and members form a certain relation to 
each other, and one may not be touched, with- 
out others feel the touch in their sympathetic 
relation. So it is, that what seems iteration is 
only bringing into prominence, what has been 
noticed only incidently, but not unthought- 
fully. Under the title of this essay, however, 
little has been left unwritten in this treatise. 

Studies may be divided into three classes : 
I. — Studies for the purpose of Discipline. 
II. — General studies suitable for the ordi- 
nary conditions of life. 

III. — Special studies necessary to a particu- 
lar pursuit. 

The studies in the first class are mainly: 

To fix the attention ; 

To exercise the memory; 

To arouse reflection ; 

To call the reasoning powers into action. 
1 am aware that, practically, when a student is 
left to himself, he often passes over the studies 



Study. 113 

for discipline, and plunges in medias res, re- 
lying upon his energy and earnestness to carry 
him through ; and he often meets with com- 
mendable success, but would he not do even 
better under previous training? 

Would not the task have been, not only 
lighter, but more thoroughly completed, if it 
had been based upon prior cultivation of his 
powers ? 

An untrained youth may begin with geom- 
etry, arithmetic or similar studies, in which 
the elements are simple, easy of apprehension, 
and the subject, by gradual and easy stages, 
tends towards the more complex, in such man- 
ner, the student is hardly aware of the progress 
made. When he has thoroughly mastered a 
few subjects of this character; he is prepared 
to grapple with what has seemed more formid- 
able studies. 

As to general studies, I shall refer to them in 
a future essay. 

Special studies depend upon the vocation 
the student may adopt. He may readily dis- 
criminate between general and special studies, so 
as to assign to each its proper place, and avoid 
following the mischievous practice of confound- 
ing one with the other. 

Special studies are not only necessary in adop- 
ted vocations, but are proper under certain con- 
ditions ; if, however, these condition do not exist, 
or do not arise, they are comparatively useless, 
and can be pursued only by taking valuable time 
which might be better employed. 

Why should the student learn the French or 



114 Self-Development. 

German language, when he expects to limit his 
career to a locaHty where these languages are not 
spoken, or when he has only casual use for one 
or the other? Why should Latin or Greek be 
studied in a general course? Is there one in a 
hundred of American youths who expects to 
speak or write or even read one or the other, after 
he has left school or college? 

Yet neither Latin nor Greek can be spared 
from their niche in the Temple of Belles-Lettres. 
The scholar who seeks sublime thought, or beauty 
of sentiment, may learn lofty philosophy of the 
Roman, or the lines and curves of beauty from 
the Greek. They are worthy of profound and 
special study, in view of a special purpose, but 
cannot be classed among general studies. 

Let the student apply the test, "cui bono" to 
any study, apart from a general course he may 
have adopted, which may be suggested by others, 
or questioned by himself. 

Elemental and higher schools of learning, em- 
body in their course of study, several subjects 
for different hours of the day. I never could per- 
ceive the wisdom of the system. It seems to me 
that the proper method of study is to take sub- 
jects not concurrently but consecutively. 

Take one subject at a time. Let it be the men- 
tal pabulum, morning, noon and night, until it 
seems to permeate the entire intellectual system. 
Whenever the mind wearies, close the book, 
recreate, but not with another study; recreate 
with light literature ; one method is simply as put- 
ting a new string on an already bended bow, the 
other is to unbend the bow entirely, 



Conversation. 115 



ESSAY TWENTY-SEVEN.^ 

CONVERSATION. 

The youth who has been taught to read and 
to write, and thenceforth must rely upon his un- 
aided efforts to drill his faculties, and to gather 
a few pebbles cast upon the beach from the great 
depths of knoweldge is still far removed from 
privation, and more fortunate than many imag- 
ine. 

His individuality has not been narrowed to fit 
a groove made by a learned Faculty ; but may as- 
sert itself in a culture adapted to future exigen- 
cies ; and a practical, not speculative life. He 
may reject the college curriculum, tendered as a 
model of a course of study ; and give his days and 
nights to subjects for which a high school of 
learning does not give a diploma, nor confer a 
degree : Self-knowledge, self-denial, self-reliamce, 
the affections, manners, style in writing and 
speech, and not least, the art of conversation. 

Conversation as an art, even in homes of cul- 
ture and refinement (which are among our best 
educators), is not given the position to which it 
is entitled, as an art whose usefulness is far- 
reaching, and which charms and captivates all 
conditions of men. 

The art is not difficult to acquire ; continuous 
effort which is within reach of all, will advance 



ii6 Self-Development. 

us to a point where we may have noble returns 
for the care we shall have taken, and the time 
we shall have spent. Nor is the discipline exact- 
ing. Indeed, it is more in the light of a recrea- 
tion than otherwise. When one feels the need 
of company, as a relaxation, the opportunity 
serves to practice a lesson; and the discipline, as 
usual, soon merges into habit. I commend to 
the earnest youth to determine he will exert him- 
self, so that he may take part in the conversa- 
tion of any circle however exclusive, and 
perform that part creditably. Skilled in it, he 
will ever be a welcome guest, at home or abroad, 
in the best society ; and there is no social emi- 
nence to which he may not aspire. 

Should a political career be his choice, of 
which public speaking is a necessary qualifica- 
tion, the art facilitates his adva^nce, and strength- 
ens his influence. What is public speaking, but 
conversing with the many, instead of the few? 
The brilliant Thomas F. Marshall, of Kentucky, 
usually addressed large audiences, aroused by his 
eloquence, in a colloquial style and tone, as if 
he were talking at a small dinner-party. 

Books give some hints on the subject, but the 
art can be learned only practically, not theoretic- 
ally. Incessant, persistent practice, albeit through 
many failures, is the only road to success. 

The first tribute to conversation is good man- 
ners — the good manners, founded on self-control, 
and which have sound sense and good feeling 
as guides. The student, in the first place, 
must have the manners of a gentleman, then he 
may be a colloquist. 



Conversation. 117 

Constant efforts to modulate the voice ; to ac- 
quire the calm tone, that comes from self-control, 
to enunciate distinctly, to use choice diction, to 
rapidly frame a sentence, before utterance, and 
to utter it without improper pause, earnestly, and 
as though every word came from the heart : Lo ! 
some of the points to be observed, and to be 
reached by the resolute and painstaking. 

It is idle to suppose one may converse well, 
and not be well-informed, particularly on those 
subjects usually mentioned in the highest circles 
of the community in which we dwell, or where 
we may reside. 

A gentleman told me that when he entered so- 
ciety, being then a young man, if he heard a sub- 
ject mentioned or discussed with which he was 
not familiar, he did not sleep until he garnered 
from his library all the information about it that 
his books could disclose. He was, perhaps, the 
best informed man I ever met, and the best coUo- 
quist. 

The art of conversing well requires infinite 
tact ; the attention, that makes a good listener, as 
well as a good talker ; and the thoughtfulness 
that draws out those of a company, who, other- 
wise, would be silent members — a generous and 
graceful act and gratifying to the recipient. 

Some vainly suppose that in order to appear 
to advantage in company, it is simply necessary 
to have a fund of what is termed "small talk." 
"Small talk" may answer for circles of limited 
intelligence. If the student happens to enter a 
circle of this character, he should seek to elevate 
its tone; failing in that, he should abandon it. 



1 1 8 Self-Development. 

Conversation is a fruitful source of knowledge 
not found in books. There are people in society 
who read very little, and who imbibe all they 
know from their social associations. In conver- 
sation, too, we may impart knowledge. We may 
be, and should be, lavish of our unsunned stores, 
and serve those who may not have had the like 
opportunities. 

It need not be said that, on entering company, 
one leaves behind prejudice and partiality, and 
brings into it all the good, unselfish feeling in his 
power ; determined to please and be pleased ; and, 
m return for contributions from others, contrib- 
ute his own share to the general entertainment. 

In the student's efforts to improve himself in 
this elegant art, he cannot afford to pass heed- 
lessly by the society of women. There is no better 
school, nor better teachers, in which or from 
whom, he may learn self-composure, ease of man- 
ner, gracefulness of utterance, and the tact that 
is unwearying and never fails ; and these are in- 
dispensable to success. Moreover, more than 
men, they will readily forgive the errors and 
omissions he may make, in his incipient efforts 
in the art of conversation. 

It is expected that the early surroundings of 
J many students, may have rendered familiar much 

\ _ of what has been said on this subject; but itera- 
tion is not always out of place ; and "line upon 
line, precept upon precept," is not an unwise 
phrase. I write, not only for youths of this class, 
I write also for a class that has not had the ad- 
vantage of fortunate circumstances, and of genial 
and happy environment. 



The Affections. 1 19 



ESSAY TWENTY-EIGHT. 

THE AFFECTIONS. 

The germ of the affections exists in childhood. 
It develops slowly, yet all the while it is gaining 
strength. At an early age, we feel, in a vague 
way ; just as in a crude manner, we think. In the 
course of time, childhood passes away. The 
child is a child no longer. The affections have 
taken their appointed place in his heart, and he 
has become a man. His vision made clear by the 
affections, notes the landscape about him invested 
with a beauty hitherto unperceived ; and his ear, 
attuned to the affections, is greeted with a mel- 
ody hitherto unheard. 

Now, as a man, he not only sees many beauti- 
ful things about him, but he feels a sense of their 
beauty in his heart. With an appreciative spirit, 
he looks with delight upon sun, moon, and stars, 
verdant plains, bosky dells, meads decked with 
blossoms, and all that is fair on earth ; or he 
listens, with gleeful fancy, to the carol of birds, 
or the lisp of children. The affections have re- 
vealed to him all the beauties of beauteous nature. 
He rejoices in an existence, which, till now, had 
seemed lifeless, and which the affections have 
warmed into being. 



120 Self-Development. 

Gentle student, have you ever considered the 
part the affections play in the drama of our exist- 
ence? Give to the subject patient thought, and 
you will realize the extent of their influence on 
all that interests mankind ; how many of our acts 
have reference to their sway, how few in which 
they are, as a thing apart. 

Duty is the touch-stone of our Moral Nature; 
Sympathy is the touch-stone of our affections ; to 
think is an intellectual desideratum; to feel is a 
moral desideratum. 

I am aware some natures seem to come into 
being bereft of the affections, just as some seem 
to lack moral sense from birth; whether such 
malformations are inherited, or arise from de- 
based surroundings and associations; I leave for 
moralists to argue, or casuists to determine. It 
appears to me that lack of the affections, as well 
as the lack of moral sense, can be placed in the 
category of exceptions to the rule — that the affec- 
tions and the moral nature are our birthright, and 
like other natural parts, require cultivation and 
direction in order to bring forth desirable fruit- 
age. 

I have hinted that the affections have much to 
do in all human affairs. They may be regarded 
from many points of view — each aspect will dis- 
close their power, and verify their dominion. View 
them from the single standpoint of zealousness. 
Now, zeal, is an outgrowth of the affections. 
Ponder on the fact, worthy student! Consider 
how much of the world's work has been done; 
how much civilization has been advanced by the 
zealous — the earnestly and enthusiastically zeal- 



The Affections. 12 1 

ous ! I am deeply and thoroughly impressed with 
the fact that the affections must be cherished as 
allies to any grand purpose in life, and to any 
grand manner of furlfilling it. I implore the 
student to take them to his heart, and invoke their 
power, as indispensable aids in every undertak- 

The affections are an emanation of the Divine 
within us ; their first-fruits are good will to all 
men; they are concerned in whatever concerns 
the human race; girt with them. Duty chastises, 
but not in anger ; and smites, but not with venge- 
ance; they temper judgment with mercy, spare 
the vanquished, and stay the hand of cruelty. 

Does the student desire illustrations? Biog- 
raphies are replete — every hamlet furnishes ex- 
amples. Why does the zealous missionary leave 
all the happy influences of civilization to plant 
the cross among barbaric hordes, if he does not 
sympathize with them, in their sad and benighted 
condition ? Duty called him to labor, and the af- 
fections pointed out the path he should take. 

Why does the patriot leave the endearments of 
a home, to suffer the perils and privations of war, 
if he does not love his country, with a love 
stronger than death? 

Why does a physician visit the sick, until he 
becomes affected with disease, and imperils his 
life; if he did not offer himself a sacrifice to his 
love for his kind ? Duty called him to the post of 
danger and affection bade him stay. 

There are many Florence Nightingales in the 
world, many Sisters of Charity and Mercy ; every 
village has its helpless, tended by patient devoted 



122 Self-Development. 

hands. Take the affections from humanity, it 
would be as the body without a heart. 

I desire to give Duty the lofty niche to which 
it is entitled. There is no higher, nobler incen- 
tive to action; but, weak mortals as we are, our 
sense of duty must often be stirred and moved 
on its course, by the affections, in order it may act 
when the occasion serves. 

It was, therefore, for a wise and beneficent 
purpose the affections were given to us, among 
other precious gifts by an All-wise Creator; and 
it seems our bounden duty not to thwart that pur- 
pose, nor to pass it by heedlessly ; but to aid it, 
and by cultivation, facilitate the functions of the 
affections, and enable them to fill their appointed 
places in our immaterial being. 

It seems superfluous to state that the affec- 
tions may be nourished and cultivated by daily 
practice; and it is a practice "twice blessed." It 
blesses donor and donee. It is more than a recre- 
ation. It not only relaxes the mind, but 
strengthens and sweetens the heart. 

The affections never lack objects upon which 
to exercise their good offices, or bestow their 
sympathy: There are our parents to venerate, 
our friends and neighbors upon whom to 
lavish the "small, sweet courtesies of life" ; the 
aged to respect; the young to give our tender- 
ness; womanhood to honor and revere. A vast 
array ! but our affections are of infinite breadth — 
unfathomed depth, and may embrace all. 

The affections are the main source of manners. 
The student who does not foster the affections, 
practices manners without a license, without even 



The Affections. 123 

acquaintance with their rudiments. Good feel- 
ing is a fundamental rule of manners. How may 
he acquire good manners, if he does not cultivate 
the affections? 

Discipline is power. "Knowledge is power." 
The power derived from one or the other, or 
both, placed in evil hands, may be abused ; in 
untrained hands, it may be ill used, unwittingly; 
under proper control it may serve good and use- 
ful purposes ; that proper control, in our imma- 
terial economy, is given to the moral nature 
stirred to duty by the affections. 

It is well, therefore, even before we undertake 
the training of the intellect, that we should be- 
gin the training of the heart ; in order that as 
we rise in discipline, and advance in knowledge, 
we may be under proper influences and directed 
by proper authority. It is, perhaps, sufficient to 
have the education of the intellect advance, pari 
passu, with the education of the heart. But to 
discipline the intellect, and to acquire knowledge, 
leaving those affections untrained, which are to 
inspire us to use this discipline and knowledge to 
wise purposes, is injudicious, imprudent; nay, is 
it not dangerous to put our little craft out to sea, 
as it were, without compass or guide? 

It is true that mental discipline, and the acqui- 
sition of knowledge, of themselves, are elevat- 
ing, and give rise to a feeling which naturally 
seeks congenial associations and fit environment, 
such associations and environments become an 
incentive to a proper direction of our discipline 
and a proper use of our acquisitions ; but these 
helps of association and environment may be de- 



1 24 Self-Development. 

nied to us, and if we have not cherished the affec- 
tions, our discipHne will lack a noble incentive 
to exertion ; and our acquisitions will be of as 
little avail, as gold hidden in the bowels of the 
earth. 

The intellect and the heart are interdependent; 
each is only a part of the whole — the immaterial 
being. The heart requires the intellect to reason 
and determine; the intellect requires the heart to 
prompt it to good works, and to inspire it to 
achieve noble ends through noble means. Of 
what avail is it to make the student learned in 
the sciences ; apt in many languages ; if he has not 
been taught to be kind to his fellow man ; humane 
to the dumb brute in his power ; and considerate 
to the sick, the afflicted and the distressed? Of 
what avail is learning if he has not learned that 
his integrity must be maintained unimpeached, 
and his honor unsullied ; and that it is a perver- 
sion of the very knowledge he may have ac- 
quired, if he fails to use it for the benefit of 
others, as well as himself? 

The student will note carefully how far aca- 
demic life educates the heart, and, if necessary, 
supplement his curriculum with the study and 
exercise of the affections. His education, with- 
out this study and practice may satisfy others, 
but he must, himself, be satisfied. 

I trust I have said enough to arouse the stu- 
dent's attention to the affections, and that he will 
take up the subject thoughtfully; consider it with 
deliberation, and note carefully the extent and 
importance of their function. Doubtless he will 
accept their aid to advance, and their sympathy 



The Affections. 125 

to aspire; and that he will cultivate those affec- 
tions which will enable him not only to serve 
others to the full capacity of his nature, but in- 
sure to himself that content which is the glori- 
ous triumph of a well-ordered life. 



126 Self-Development. 



ESSAY TWENTY-NINE. 

HABITS. 

As the youth merges into maturity, or soon 
afterward, he acquires certain habits of mind as 
well as of body, which become fixed through life, 
and which tend to make or mar his usefulness, 
and his peace of mind; according to their good- 
ness, their supineness or their weakness. 

He who earnestly seeks self-culture must seri- 
ously consider there are certain habits to be 
formed, certain habits to be avoided ; and that 
unless he has the resolution to acquire the one, 
and avoid the other, it is in vain for him to expect 
intellectual advancement. 

Habits, indeed, are the man, common experi- 
ence tells us naught should be expected of the 
man of indolent habits ; nor one without method 
in his ways, without patience in his pursuits; but 
that much may be reckoned from him who has 
acquired habits of industry, of method, and of 
perseverance. 

The youth, earnest in his endeavor to reach 
high mental development, requires slight intro- 
spection to discover the habits which help, and 
the habits which hinder, on his way. It is not so 
much knowledge in this wise that he requires, as 
a determination to forsake a bad habit, of which 



Habits. 127 

one bold step breaks the tyranny; and to cleave 
to a good habit, in which each step taken 
strengthens him for the next. The following 
suggestions, however, may aid the youth in his 
introspection; and, perhaps, advance him in his 
endeavor. 

He who maps out for himself a career of use- 
fulness, must acquire the habit of employing his 
time to advantage, and of availing himself of its 
precious fragments. 

When one reflects upon the brevity of life; 
upon the unyielding demands of sleep; the hours 
necessary for recreation; the social demands we 
cannot forget ; the hours we are indisposed to 
study, from physical or mental causes ; there 
seems to remain moments, only, that can be de- 
voted to intellectual pursuits. Yet of these mo- 
ments we waste many ! It is because we have 
not the habit of watching for, and appropriating 
all available time. Some endeavor to make up 
for time lost by abridging the hours that belong 
to sleep or recreation, but the custom will reduce 
the vigor of the body, react on the mind, and avail 
nothing. 

It is the orderly settlement of our time that 
puts us in a proper way for its right disposition. 
Every evening a plan should be formed for the 
occupation of the following day, and carried out 
as far as practicable. 

Interruptions cannot be avoided, but the youth 
should be jealous of any undue infringement 
upon his time, and seek to acquire the habit of 
constant zvatchfulness over it, in order it may be 
thoroughly and usefully employed. 



128 Self-Development. 

Social life has claims upon him which cannot 
be ignored; but he must observe the distinction 
between the hours given to it for a good purpose, 
and the time wasted in idle gossip, or amuse- 
ments which do not recreate. 

When a student, after passing an evening in 
society, communes with himself, and cannot re- 
member any way in which he has served others 
or himself; it would be well for him to consider 
whether it is proper to continue such useless in- 
roads upon his time. 

Unprofitable reading takes up much valuable 
time. Newspapers, magazines, trashy literature, 
even some sciences of no possible use, in a gen- 
eral way, offer constant temptation to the stu- 
dent; which can be resisted by the habit of em- 
ploying his time to such advantage that he has 
not a moment to spare, even if he had the inclina- 
tion, for idle reading. The habitual endeavor to 
use our time properly involves the dispatch of 
our affairs in order, and relegates to far away 
regions the demon of procrastination, which all 
of us know, and too many of us serve. 

He who has not method should cultivate it, 
until it becomes a habit. The man of method has 
advantages over him who lacks it, and will not 
seek to acquire it. It can be acquired, as one may 
note, where a busy man who has numerous en- 
gagements of his time, is compelled to adopt 
method in its disposition. 

Method disposes us to make an orderly ar- 
rangement of our time.. It enables us to be punc- 
tual in our appointments ; it induces regular hab- 
its, as sleep and recreation; it gives to us regular 



Habits. 129 

hours for study; and these regular hours serve 
to maintain interest in study. It forms the habit 
of planning, which is necessary before we under- 
take ; it enables us, in a moment, to put our hand 
on any paper in our library we may require. 
These are some advantages of method. Let it 
become a habit, cost what it may. It will repay 
whatever efforts may be made for its acquisi- 
tion. Let it not be said it cannot be acquired ; for 
the discipline is mechanical, and patience will se- 
cure it. 

The difference between the pains necessary to 
acquire a good habit and the weakness which al- 
lows us to drift into a bad habit, is not so broad 
as many imagine. Even if it were so, he who 
cannot deny himself and respond to the call of 
duty; he, who would rather linger at Capua than 
march to Rome, must bear in mind that victory 
does not come to him who stands idle and help- 
less, but must be plucked in the heat and fierce- 
ness of the battle. 

Good habits are allies upon whose fidelity we 
may rely, and whose support is indispensable; 
bad habits are our stern enemies for life, ready 
to thwart every movement we may make, and to 
place every obstacle in our way ; the young man 
can decide whether he will accept the aid of one, 
or incur the opposition of the other. 



130 Self-Development. 



ESSAL THIRTY. 

MANNERS. 

Self-culture in providing for the needs of a 
career, is not complete without the cultivation 
of manners. It is not only incomplete, but with- 
out manners much of it is unserviceable. 

It is not by what we really .are, nor what our 
acquisitions are, but by the manner in which we 
show ourselves to the world, that the world 
judges us; because outward appearance and visi- 
ble actions and speech are the only means of de- 
termining. 

Now if we really desire to serve others, and be 
served by them, which seems to be the natural 
and beneficent condition of existence ; we must 
place ourselves in friendly relations to them, and 
endeavor to have their good opinion. 

We can secure their good opinion by showing 
good feehng, carried out in act when circum- 
stance favors ; and in this wise serve them ; and 
we may reasonably expect others to serve us, if 
we show we are entitled to their esteem and re- 
spect. 

When I mention others serving us, I refer to 

the fact that no one is so independent, as to be 

bove the need, from time to time, of the help. 



Manners. 131 

comfort and companionship of his kind ; if he 
has served others in his day he may expect serv- 
ice in turn ; cases of ingratitude, though frequent, 
are exceptional. 

It must not be understood that service to others 
must be rendered in view of recompense of serv- 
ice to us, which is only a common result. Service 
for the sake of service, and because it is right 
and proper of itself, must influence our conduct 
and guide our actions. 

These views embody the theory of manners, 
which is simply ethical culture, illustrated in 
every-day life ; — to do unto others as we would 
have others do unto us. 

Good manners are frequently supposed to con- 
sist of the knowledge and practice of conventional 
usage, born of the customs of a certain class; 
but conventional usage, as the etiquette of a court, 
is matter of form and ceremony, and may be 
learned mechanically : Good manners hold a 
higher place, and are based upon the best im- 
pulses of the heart, sound sense, and settled con- 
victions of duty. There are gentlemen, igno- 
rant of the usage of a certain class of society, yet 
with their good sense and good feeling would 
honor a court by their presence. Exclusiveness, 
unapproachableness, "putting on airs," as famil- 
iarly expressed, do not belong to the school of 
manners. 

I had the honor of meeting General Grant at 
a social function, while he was President, and 
found him as approachable as a child; modest in 
bearing and manner, simple and genial in speech, 
and utterly devoid of ostentation. 



132 Self-Development. 

It often happens that, as a man rises in the 
world, or becomes noted among his fellow man, 
he conceives it proper to assume airs of impor- 
tance, in order to verify his exalted position ; for- 
getting that modesty and simplicity are the hand- 
maids of greatness, if great he considers him- 
self. 

One has the undoubted right to fortify himself 
against intrusion in any shape, select his com- 
pany, indulge in his privacy, marshal his precious 
time in order, have his hours parcelled out in 
due proportion, between the library, the drawing- 
room, his vocation, and his intercourse with 
others ; but he should never set himself above his 
fellows; he should never assert the "I am holier 
than thou" idea; good-heartedness must never 
fail him ; a tact that is studied and practiced, must 
show consideration to all, even unto those fill- 
ing the humblest ofifices in his household. 

The student should aspire to be a gentleman — 
a word considered one of the most expressive of 
the language; for the word embodies all that is 
lofty of thought, tender of sentiment, honorable 
in speech and act. 

A student may not aspire to be a gentleman un- 
less he has learned a lofty reverence for women, 
and is heartily disposed to show to them at all 
times, the respect and attention their presence 
may suggest, and courtesy may require. He 
should bear testimony of his right to be called 
a gentleman, by his apparel, his bearing and car- 
riage, the modulation of his voice; his choice 
language; and his civiHty to all; efven the lowli- 
est. He should study conversation ?^s an art, 



Manners. 133 

practice it on every suitable occasion ; avoid, 
whenever practicable, using the "small talk" of 
the Sciolist ; and seek to leave a favorable first 
impression even upon a casual acquaintance. 

Some are born to please ; with many there is 
the feeling, arising from conviction of duty, that 
we must cultivate the gentle art of pleasing. Duty 
begets discipline, discipline merges into habit, 
which soon renders the task as light as it is agree- 
able. 

Dickens, without effort, and it seems to me, 
without intending it, portrayed a gentleman, 
when he gave us John Jarndyce of the Bleak 
House. 

A youth would hardly desire to aim lower than 
to possess the elements of simple manhood, to 
have clustered about him those qualities that con- 
stitute a man in the highest sense of the term ; 
a man dealing kindly and justly with all, and 
leading a good, useful and honorable life. I 
suggest to the aspirant to go only a step farther ; 
these qualities are precious jewels in his keeping. 
I invite him to polish them, in order to show what 
they really are. It is well to know the conven- 
tional usages of a certain class ; it is indispensable 
to know and observe good manners on every oc- 
casion of daily intercourse. 

Good manners involve dress, as we are judged 
by appearances, in default of knowledge of ac- 
tualities. Polonius's advice to Laertes was, 
"costly thy habit as thy purse can buy. But not 
expressed in fancy; rich, not gaudy; for the ap- 
parel oft proclaims the man." 

Conversation is a concomitant of manners. To 



134 Self-Development. 

converse well is an art monarchs might envy. In 
our intercourse with the world, it is a passport 
to exclusive circles ; in fact, it draws humanity 
entire to us. It requires discipline to acquire this 
charming and useful art; only discipline can 
achieve the modulation of the voice necessary, the 
distinct enunciation, the calm utterance, the 
choice language, the familiarity with subjects that 
interest; and yet the tact which listens, when lis- 
tening is courteous and pleasant. 

Books afford few hints on the subject of man- 
ners. Let the aspiring youth ponder on his re- 
lations to his kind, and he can solve for himself 
the problem of manners ; but they cannot be prac- 
ticed without a thoughtfulness that is far-reach- 
ing, and a tact that wearies not, nor slumbers. 
The discipline required in these efforts must be 
thorough ; a sense of duty is the impelling power ; 
and the result soothes the conscience and glad- 
dens the heart. 

Our higher schools of learning have no depart- 
ment in which manners may be cultivated ; the 
gentle art of pleasing has no place in their curric- 
ulum. It is true that in a mass of students there 
are many whose early surroundings have been 
favorable to the cultivation of good manners, and 
these give sufficient tone to intercourse, so that 
rudeness is repressed and selfishness ostracized ; 
but there are no earnest efforts in the way of dis- 
cipline tending to their cultivation, insisted upon 
by professor, or acted upon by pupil. Self-cul- 
ture, therefore, is the sole resource of the stu- 
dent. He must commence with himself, some- 
what as follows : "Why all this discipline ? Why 



Manners. 135 

all this learning? Is it not that I may serve 
others, as well as myself? How can I serve others, 
if I win not their esteem and affection? How 
may I win their esteem and affection otherwise 
than through the gentle art of pleasing?" 

Bolingbroke kept "his presence like a robe 
pontifical. Ne'er seen but wondered at." The 
student may dedicate his life to science, and keep 
himself as cloistered as a monk ; if, like Boling- 
broke, his seclusion does not preclude him from 
appearing to have studied manners, as he would 
a science, and conversation as he would an art. 
Association with the best people of the commu- 
nity in which w^e live is the proper school for man- 
ners. Let the young man aspire to this associa- 
tion, and be assured merit will attain it. If his 
earliest surroundings shall have been unfriendly 
to the attempt, they are not an absolute impedi- 
ment, and the triumph all the more worthy. 

Life is made up of little things. "Its small, 
sweet courtesies" cost us nothing, yet they are 
current coin, with which we may purchase happi- 
ness for others, pleasure to ourselves. In the 
surging mass of humanity, pressing us on every 
side, there is the friction of passion and ignoble 
interests, and the repelling frown of antagonistic 
natures. Civility lessens the friction and dispels 
the frown. Indeed it is the lubricant without 
which the machinery of social life would cease 
and rust, and become unfit for service ; and so- 
ciety would resolve itself into its original ele- 
ments of savage life and selfish consideration. 



136 Self-Development. 



ESSAY THIRTY-ONE. 

ON A COURSE OF GENERAL STUDIES. 

Independent of help a youth may receive 
from schools of learning, in order to fulfill those 
duties he owes to others and to himself, he should 
adopt and carry out a plan of general studies ; 
apart from the special studies of the particular 
pursuit to which he may be called. 

In adopting this plan he must remember the 
bounds of knowledge are too vast to be taken 
within the horizon of human capacity. He must 
therefore, "dare be ignorant of many things," and 
select a portion of the fair domain ; a portion he 
may cultivate thoroughly; for it is only by thor- 
ough cultivation in whatever is undertaken, 
whether elemental or otherwise, that proper re- 
sults can be reached. 

The studies to be selected must be of a char- 
acter to satisfy the constant needs of daily life; 
and tend to make us useful to others, and con- 
tented within ourselves. 

It must be borne in mind that life has its limi- 
tations as to time ; and our physical and intellec- 
tual parts their limitations as to endurance and 
achievement. 

Time, valuable to all, is particularly valuable to 
those who are able to give only precious frag- 



On a Course of General Studies. 137 

ments of it to self-culture, by reason of an exact- 
ing occupation, or other causes. Again, it is 
well to reflect, that whatever course of study a 
student may adopt, must be accomplished, usually, 
in a few early years of his career ; as the ordi- 
nary cares of life soon engross his time, and tend 
to take away all interest in study. 

To the student desirous of forming a plan of 
general studies, I tender these suggestions. 

1. Discard all studies he cannot put to use, or 
which cannot add to his intellectual advantage 
and enjoyment. It is not the knowledge we ac- 
quire, but what we use and enjoy, which is bene- 
ficial. 

2. It is a common error to confuse special and 
general studies. There are m.any studies which 
serve special purposes, which are of slight avail 
otherwise, even by way of discipline. 

A knowledge of the French language, for in- 
stance, would be useful in some contingencies ; 
but to expect to use it, only casually, does not 
seem to justify classing it with general studies; 
or to give the time necessary for its acquisition, 
which could be used to greater advantage in other 
studies. 

3. He should, as a rule, let one study absorb 
his attention, and be thorough in it, before he 
takes up another ; provided he can, without weari- 
ness, so employ his entire spare time ; otherwise, 
two studies might be pursued, one after the other, 
during the day. 

4. Of the studies he may deem essential, he 
should begin with the more important, and pro- 
ceed in the order of their importance. 



I3S Self-Development. 

5. When it is considered proper to embrace 
only the elements of a science in general studies, 
the distinction must be observed between an en- 
deavor to grasp general principles or great out- 
lines, and the skimming of the surface that re- 
sults in smattering; one seeks the mighty deep 
for its treasure — the other toys with the wave 
for amusement. 

6. When interest is aroused on a subject, let 
it take precedence over other studies, and let 
him investigate it in its completeness, while the 
interest is lively and eager. 

7. What he is compelled to know empirically, 
he should learn scientifically, as far as practicable. 

What may be classed as Important Studies are 
here given, in the order of their importance. 

I. A knowledge of the language, comprising 
the origin and use of words, grammar, clearness 
and elegance of expression in speech and writing. 

Thought, which precedes the progress and ele- 
vation of humanity, is expressed by language. 
To have the thought clear to our conception, the 
language must be clear. The language cannot 
be clear, unless the words used are proper words, 
and the sentence expresses the thought with pers- 
picuity. Hence the necessity of studying the lan- 
guage, in order to give correct expression to our 
thoughts. 

As we become better acquainted with the lan- 
guage, force and elegance of expression may be 
added to correctness, and serve to interest and im- 
press. 

The language is not only an indispensable 
study, but its facile use is an elegant accomplish- 



On a Course of General Studies. 139 

ment. A clever style charms in writing, captivates 
in speech; and there is an intellectual delight in 
learning to frame choice and proper sentences 
to express our ideas. 

Let the youth eager to advance drink deep of 
his mother tongue. Let him gradually learn the 
origin and use of its words ; and the nice dis- 
tinctions of their shades of meaning. Let him be 
perfect in his grammar; seek to hear and critic- 
ally note the pronunciation of the best speakers 
of the language. Then let him turn to that array 
of writers who have shown its capabilities, from 
the simple and beautiful Anglo-Saxon of Bunyan, 
to the classic diction of a "Junius," or Dr. John- 
son, of a Macaulay or a De Quince/, not for the 
purpose of imitating a style, but to form one of 
his own. 

2. Logic or the art of reasoning, "the science 
of sciences," is an indispensable study ; our rea- 
soning power is invoked every hour of the day, 
almost every minute ; yet how few persons rea- 
son correctly ! 

In the Essay on Reflection and Reasoning this 
subject has already been discussed, and attention 
invited to its importance. 

In the studies which follow a knowledge of the 
outlines or elemental truths will be sufficient for 
a course of general studies. 

3. Hygiene, as health is not only the chief ele- 
ment of content, but a prerequisite in intellectual 
effort, it is unnecessary to urge a knowledge of 
the general truths of Hygiene, as essential in this 
course. 

4. Psychology, as I have already endeavored 



140 Self-Development. 

to place before the student the importance of Self- 
knowledge, it is needless to state more, in this 
connection, than that this knowledge can be en- 
larged through study of the law and facts of men- 
tal operation. 

5. Chemistry, as we are compelled to know 
something of chemistry through the experience 
of our daily lives, it is proper that knowledge 
should be substituted by a scientific knowledge of 
its fundamental truths. 

6. Physics bear much the same relation as 
chemistry to our daily needs ; as in the former the 
phenomena observed are of masses of matter in 
their external relation ; and the latter deals with 
the internal constitution of bodies, and the rela- 
tion of the parts to each other. Electricity should 
be embraced in this study, and have special atten- 
tion, in view of its growing importance. 

7. Sociology, or the science of Social life, we 
should know scientifically, because we are obliged 
otherwise to know it experimentally. 

8. Politics, or the science of government, as a 
branch of sociology, must have a measure of our 
attention, as every one should be fully informed 
of his relation to the state as a citizen. 

The Federal and State constitutions should be 
carefully read in connection with this subject, and 
a commentary on the Federal constitution would 
repay the time given to its perusal. 

9. Of mathematical studies, arithmetic and ge- 
ometry, as far as the first six books of Euclid, 
or the equivalent. 

10. Mechanics, including a knowledge of the 
steam engine. 



On a Course of General Studies, 141 

II. Astronomy, geology, and physical geog- 
raphy of land and sea. 

The above studies of M^hich elemental knowl- 
edge is to be acquired, are subject to the quali- 
fication, that when appliances are necessary to 
illustrate a truth or principle, such as models in 
physiology, or a laboratory in chemistry, the 
study without them has less interest, and while 
not entirely barren of profit, is shorn of much 
of its value. 

The subject of Ethics has already been con- 
sidered in the Essay on Moral Faculty. In a 
previous chapter I have referred to studies tend- 
ing to cultivate the imagination ; these may be 
classed as recreative studies, to be pursued, from 
time to time; and form an exception to the ob- 
servation, heretofore made, of attempting to rec- 
reate by a change of study. 

Students understand the value of reviewing a 
subject, more or less frequently, as its importance 
demands, with a view to fixing it in the memory. 
This matter has been already referred to in the 
Essay on Reading. 

Stenography and Typewriting are valuable ac- 
quisitions to a student, and may serve him in 
special pursuits. Their familiar use is a testi- 
mony of their value. Every young man should 
instruct himself in both and be able to use them 
with skill and rapidity. 

Books, as valuable as they are, must not allow 
us to ignore what is outside of books. Observa- 
tion of, and reflection on Nature, mankind and 
ourselves, must have a proper and liberal share 
of our attention. Evolving our own ideas from 



142 Self-Development. 

what we observe is a direct, exhaustless and un- 
contaminated source of knowledge. 

The habit of conversing with those we meet, 
on subjects famihar to them, is a means of ac- 
quiring useful information, which books might 
not furnish at all, or only at the expense of much 
time and research. A friend connected with a 
banking institution could inform us of the usages 
of bankers ; another, of the legal profession, could 
advise us of the office and uses of a bank check, 
promissory note or bill of exchange. He could 
also advise us of our rights and duties as a 
voter, witness, litigant, grand or petit juror; so, 
a bookkeeper could state the principles of double 
entry, and the method of analyzing a transaction, 
in order to make it appear plainly on the record. 

Favorable surroundings, and associations with 
the best people about us, are educators worthy 
of all efforts to secure. The imagination feasts 
upon the sublime and beautiful in scenery, and 
takes from it color and impression that neither 
fades nor wears ; but scenery that is tame and 
subject only to slight changes, gives less nourish- 
ment and strength. In association we learn, as 
I have said, much that books do not readily fur- 
nish, if they furnish at all; we learn also, by as- 
sociation the modes, customs and sentiments of 
cultivated people. When, therefore, the young 
man has the choice, let him choose to dwell amid 
elevating surroundings, and associate with the 
best people of the community in which his lot is 
cast. 

The pursuit of a course of studies is apt to give 
lis, as we advance, exaggerated views of our ac- 



On a Course of General Studies. 143 

quirements, against which we must carefully 
guard ourselves ; among the first-fruits of Self- 
knowledge is the discernment that establishes a 
well-defined line between what we know, and that 
which we do not know. It is because mankind 
assume to know what really they do not, and act 
upon the assumption that many misfortunes and 
failures befall them ; whereof every phase of life, 
every condition and every pursuit furnish in- 
numerable victims. 

History, usually, is profitless reading, on ac- 
count of the manner in which it has been treated ; 
written properly, it is of service only as an illus- 
tration of sociology, and should follow, not pre- 
cede, as it commonly does, a knowledge of that 
science. Some recent chroniclers have marked a 
path others may safely follow, and written of 
peoples, instead of the crimes of rulers, or the in- 
trigues of a court. 

I have omitted Latin and Greek from general 
studies, because if pursued at all, they should 
form special studies. They are not required in 
every-day exigencies. It seems questionable, 
with an English-speaking people, whether the 
acquisition of one or more modern languages, 
repays one for the time required for familiar 
knowledge ; and the usual Academic skimming is 
simply a waste of time ; when, however, a speci- 
fic object is in view, the study of one or more 
of these languages could be pursued under a spe- 
cial course. 

^Esthetic culture, in a general way, has rela- 
tion to ourselves. There are moments in life 
when we need mental recreation, and must rely 



144 Self-Development. 

upon the resources within us. These resources 
might be too meagre to satisfy, if we have not, 
from time to time, sauntered into the region of 
romance, or reahn of poetic thought, and kept 
ourselves in touch with their creations. This spirit 
should be maintained by noting high types of ar- 
chitecture, visiting galleries of paintings and 
sculpture whenever practicable ; and by keeping 
up a knowledge of the best fiction and poetry 
of the language. In this manner our apparently 
idle moments may be the least idle, and our hours 
of solitude the most social — with the uncrowned 
Queens and Kings of Ideal Life, filling the cham- 
bers of the heart, and gladdening it with their 
wit and fancy. 

Let it be understood by the student that these 
remarks on a course of general study are in- 
tended, not so much recommendatory, as illus- 
trative of the proper direction of a course. I 
would regret to know a youth had adopted a 
single suggestion that had not the approval of 
his understanding. If they serve him in forming 
a plan of his own, they will have achieved their 
purpose. 



Conclusion. 145 



CONCLUSION. 

Gentle Student ! we now part company, and 
the parting word must be spoken. I have sought 
thee from Sympathy, and if my companionship 
has cheered thee, or words of mine helped, I am 
content. 

Would that / had your youth, joined to my ex- 
perience ; but you have my experience, joined to 
your youth. It is tendered to thee in all the in- 
tegrity of my heart. Esteem it not lightly ; but 
accept no expression uttered, save it have the 
sanction of the judgment. 

The triple inheritance of Conscience, Intellect 
and Heart are thine. Each an estate worthy of 
careful stewardship. Let them not lie fallow. 
Let them not, through poor tillage, grow up in 
the weeds that tell of lost opportunities, but till 
each field intensively, and to the uttermost. 

Day by day, quicken and broaden thy mental 
powers. At the evening hour seek the inner 
shrine of conscience, review thy actions, confess 
thy faults, and renew thy vow of fealty to the 
"Stem Law Giver" — Duty. 

Lo ! thy labors, worthy student ! They are la- 
bors of love — labors that delight and cloy not. 
Pray and labor, until thy intellect is disciplined 
to philosophic thought ; thy conscience hallowed 



146 Conclusion. 

to supreme good; and thy heart fragrant with 
content and good will. 

Let thy motto be: "Onward, Upward." The 
faint-hearted may fall by the wayside, but pass 
thou on. Keep Duty as a guiding star, and thou 
shalt approach near, if not entirely realize, the 
full-rounded Ideal Life, graven on thy fancy, by 
The Great Designer. 



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